Musette - Dry Hopped
Allagash Brewing Company

On tap (dry hopped version).

Poured a deeper amberish color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of floral hops, fruity, vanilla, some bourbon, wood, and caramel. Tastes of vanilla, wood, bourbon, caramel, and fruity. Overall the alcohol content was well hidden.

Notes from 3/7/08

On tap at Max's

A: Deep amber with a gorgeous off-white head.

S: Complex - yeasty, fruity with figs, prunes and sugar. No immediate dry-hop noticeable.

T: Starts off sweet with a mild hop character and is followed by fruits and alcohol on the finish. Unique for the style.

M: Medium bodied with nice carbonation and a hint of alcohol on the finish.

D: Glad I got a chance to try this before it was gone! Great stuff

While not a bad beer, this was my least favorite of the Allagash beers I sampled at Max's the other night. Not exactly sure that the barrel aging and dry hopping imparted any extra flavor to this beer. It seemed to taste pretty similar to the regular Mussette, an Allagash beer that has never been among my favorites.

The beer pours a beautiful brown mahogany color with very good head retention and decent lacing. This beer certainly looks pretty impressive. The nose on this beer is not it's best attribute, what I can get. There seems to be a light aroma of gingerale and tootsie roll; both on the nose and palate it seems like the flavors are dominated by the wood. On the palate I get plenty of vanilla, with a touch of Belgium spice and a hint of skunkiness. This beer actually reminds me of a barrel aged, ramped up version of the grand cru. The beer is very smooth on the palate, but is just a bit hot on the finish from the alcohol. Abv. is somewhat obtrusive, though I didn't find the beer heavy or tiring to drink.

This is a good beer, but certainly not one of my favorites from Allagash.