Vrienden
Allagash Brewing Company
- From:
- Allagash Brewing Company
- Maine, United States
- Style:
- Wild Ale
- ABV:
- 9.2%
- Score:
- 90
- Avg:
- 4.06 | pDev: 9.85%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 68
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- May 28, 2015
- Added:
- Mar 15, 2011
- Wants:
- 48
- Gots:
- 26
SCORE
90
Outstanding
90
Outstanding
Vrienden is a collaboration with New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO and was brewed in July of 2010. Brewmaster Peter Bouckart worked with us to come up with a recipe to be brewed both at their facility and at ours, with subtle differences in each. Both beers used the same base recipe. The Vrienden- Fort Collins version was brewed with belgian endive and hibiscus flower. The Vrienden- Portland version was brewed with dandelion greens and elderberries. Peter then came to Allagash to assist with the brew itself and, a few weeks later, Jason and Rob went there to help with their brew. The beers were fermented using a blend of New Belgium's Lactobacillus strain and the Allagash Brettanomyces strain.
The resulting beer is mildly tart, fruity and slightly hoppy.
The resulting beer is mildly tart, fruity and slightly hoppy.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Thorpe429:
Reviewed by Thorpe429 from Illinois
3.93/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
3.93/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
From Allagash's e-mail: "A collaboration brew with New Belgium Brewing. Brewed with dandelions and elderberries. Fermented with Allagash Brettanomyces and New Belgium's Lactobacillus. Tart, fruity, earthy. 1500 bottles for sale at the brewery only, proceeds to benefit friends of Casco Bay (.org). Limit two (2) bottles per person. $10.00 per bottle."
On tap at the Day Session of Extreme Beer Fest 2011. At least I believe it was on tap based on what I saw, i.e. a lack of bottles. It also looks like quite a few people had Vagabond on tap.
Pour yielded a light copper to amber colored brew with a nice off-white head settling atop it after a good swirl or two. The nose was a bit of a hodge podge at this point. There was definitely a bit of acid plus a nice fruitiness and a bit of Brett funk and earthiness. The elderberries are pretty interesting and I like what they did.
The taste really brought things together a lot better. The combination of the elderberries with the funky Brett was nice, and the light acid provided a nice complement. Taste is slightly tannic, though not at all in a bad way. Feel had good carbonation for the accompanying brew with a really nice funkiness that went well with the flavors from the fruit. Good dry finish.
Overall, this was quite interesting. Not necessarily my favorite wild from Allagash, but it was certainly intriguing enough to get me to hit their table up a few times. Looking forward to hopefully getting to taste how this develops in the future.
Mar 15, 2011On tap at the Day Session of Extreme Beer Fest 2011. At least I believe it was on tap based on what I saw, i.e. a lack of bottles. It also looks like quite a few people had Vagabond on tap.
Pour yielded a light copper to amber colored brew with a nice off-white head settling atop it after a good swirl or two. The nose was a bit of a hodge podge at this point. There was definitely a bit of acid plus a nice fruitiness and a bit of Brett funk and earthiness. The elderberries are pretty interesting and I like what they did.
The taste really brought things together a lot better. The combination of the elderberries with the funky Brett was nice, and the light acid provided a nice complement. Taste is slightly tannic, though not at all in a bad way. Feel had good carbonation for the accompanying brew with a really nice funkiness that went well with the flavors from the fruit. Good dry finish.
Overall, this was quite interesting. Not necessarily my favorite wild from Allagash, but it was certainly intriguing enough to get me to hit their table up a few times. Looking forward to hopefully getting to taste how this develops in the future.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by wisrarebeer from Wisconsin
2.56/5 rDev -36.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
2.56/5 rDev -36.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
A: amber brown color, clear with good carbonation and light creamy head
S: nose is mild and sweeter, nothing unusual
T: very disappointing, cloying, malt with some hop balance but really no noticeable bret nor lacto
M: sweet, no noticeable funk
O: sweet, bland, no funk, reminded me a bit of a Belgian white
Nov 14, 2013S: nose is mild and sweeter, nothing unusual
T: very disappointing, cloying, malt with some hop balance but really no noticeable bret nor lacto
M: sweet, no noticeable funk
O: sweet, bland, no funk, reminded me a bit of a Belgian white
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