My One & Only
Allagash Brewing Company

 

 

 

Draft at Allagash

 

 

Fruity, funky, and sour aroma, a wonderful blend with notes of vinegar, tannins, raspberry, cherry pits, and plum skin. Flavor follows the nose, with light funk, moderate sourness, and wonderfully natural-tasting fruit notes of raspberry and plum.

 

Foggy dark red with a pastel mauve head settling to a soft off-white blanket.

A HUGE, damn near Atrial Rubicite level of raspberry splashes the palate up front, while instantly becoming more sour with some vinousness that reminds me of blackberry. The plum and cherry combination comes in to dry it up with some chewy tannin and char.

This would be a stone cold stunner if it exhibited a little less acidity.

 

 

Pours a clear coppery red brown with a rocky tan head that falls to a thin foamy layer.

The smell is mostly fruity and takes a bit to figure out. It is actually fairly funky out of the gate. Once past that, dark sweet cherry, raspberry and the accompanying tea notes I often find associated, then something that strikes me as prunelike so I can go with plums there. Then something else drifts in from the background as a vague sweetness - there is a bit of oakiness, and the faintest bit of peach.

The taste is dominated by the cherry. I'm guessing this is due to the use of cherries and pleurries both contributing. The plum taste is decidedly prune-like and strikes me as black plums, and again that would have an added contribution from the pluerries. There is a brief hit of peach. I couldn't find anything particulatly raspberry at first, but it is in there. There is some oaky tannin, a decent dose of funk, and a very sharp acidity. It's a bit fruity sweet but with a sudden huge and brief spike of acidity. The carryover flavor on the end is plum and cherry.

It is medium bodied, so it feels thicker than some Allagash sours. Thankfully it is not a runaway fruit train - it has enough funk and certainly enough acidity with a bit of oak to balance the heavy fruit flavors.

Honestly, this one grew on me. The first sip was not something I enjoyed, but once I got past that I could dig in and appreciate everything going on. I don't particularly enjoy the dominant cherry, but that is personal taste. Maybe a bit more raspberry would offset that or just less cherry. It is interesting and layered, the flavors essentially playing well. It has fruit sourness and sourness from the process. The acidic spike is significant yet it's not overly tart as a whole. There's some sweetness and softness to round it out.

 

 

 

Appearance: Pours a cranberry color with just a slight orange tinge; the mauve head starts at one finger and slowly fades; squiggly lacing

Smell: A ton of funk in the aroma, with a plum and tart cherry tones; oaky

Taste: Tart berry flavors forward with the plum and cherry pronounced; just a hint of raspberry in the background; through the middle, the oaky funk builds and the finish is very tart

Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate to high carbonation; puckery

Overall: This is what I look for in a fruited sour; incredibly complex with plenty of funk and tartness while making sure that the fruit shines