Allagash (2022)

I’ve got a couple Ghoulschips I’m excited to drink. Figure Halloween might be the time to do them both.

(why split one with the wife when we can each have one?!)

 

Swiftly is the best IPA out there right now. They’ve gotta start selling it as a standalone product. Right now, you can only get it in stores via a grab bag activity 12-pack. They only sell standalone Swiftly at the brewery. It’s a gem.

 

I have purchased a 16 oz four pack of it; and I believe it is still available at said store.

Could be a distro thing but I bet if you look around you may come across some. I enjoyed it a lot too

 

It was a seasonal back in June. I know a store that still sells it too, but it is old.

 

Makes sense, I bought a while ago now. More old hoppy beer on shelves…

 

I looked at the dates at the store today, the beer was canned in March. Ouch.

 

I made my way up to the tasting room to grab some bottles after work. It feels good to have Interlude back in my cellar. I had a pour of the Coolship Ruby which was phenomenal. It’s a perfect Thanksgiving Day beer if you’re looking for a palate cleanser. New merch is killer too. I still don’t fully understand the tasting room move. The space is so well curated at this point for the Allagash experience. I’m sure the new spot will be beautiful but I’m going to miss the old digs.

 

Sounds pretty cool, but pretty pricey at $35 pp:


The Cellars at Allagash
November 19, 2022 | Posted in GENERAL NEWS


Allagash Brewing is launching a new tour of the Industrial Way brewery. Named Cellars at Allagash the “immersive and intimate beer-tasting experience” focuses on Allagash’s small-batch beers and includes a guided tasting of their barrel-aged, sour, and wild beers. The Allagash Cellars tours are set to launch on November 26th. Tickets are available online.

 

Speaking as someone who has had access to cellar collections, tastings, and uniquely Allagash hospitality experiences, I'd guess that $35 is a steal. Heavy Allagash bias aside, no one does the beer world does this kind of thing better.

 

I am booked for next Friday so I will let you all know.

 

This sounds like a private tour I was given a few years ago. One of the better and more generous beer experiences I've ever had.

@Sheppard definitely let us know how it is. If it's not a super long tour I may consider it when I head up in January.

 

Did the first cellars event today. Was really nice. You get 4 pours of allagsh beers including one of their 'the cellars' series. Also a surprise or two. You get free roam of the wild area and a host provides some nice context for each beer and some history on allagash. They also have cellars 1 (magnum), 2 and 3 for take away, only available to people doing the 'tour'. Less of a tour and more of a guided beer tasting. Would recommend.

Also cellars 1 is a sour blonde aged on golden raspberries and was fantastic.

Edit: lasted 1 hour and you had 30 minutes to get another pour and linger in the tasting area.

 

I had no idea they made a beer named Coolship Cerise Estate. I had it yesterday...always nice to tick a limited Allagash beer.

 

I guess I owe y'all a review of the Cellars experience. I thought it was cool and will only get better as they get it going and have more to offer. The Cellars is located in the part Allagash has occupied the longest, in the back. That's their wild side (i.e. all of the Brett+ beers). It's part education, part drinking and enjoying beers. There are some beers there that aren't available on the other side. Some vintage bottles as well. There will be beers you are served that you have probably had. A lot of couples in my group. I was the only lone wolf.

Allagash has some equipment you're not going to see in most places (clay pots, concrete tanks, and a good number of large foeders). They do education and hospitality so well. I had a good experience and think it was well worth the $35. Can I see someone just enjoying visiting and having beers at the taproom more? Yeah. Can I see this being a cooler experience for people less into beer than most of us? Also, yeah. I would do it again though. It's a cool, curated experience and I'm looking forward to seeing what it evolves into.

RE: Scarborough, it sounds like it's at least a couple of years away. I can't see them shutting down the current taproom before that.

 

Had an awesome experience at cellars yesterday. I’ve become a pretty big Allagash fanboy over the past few years and this felt like a really nice way for them to lean into how exceptional their barrel program is. Loved the space and every beer we had - had never had Interlude before and was quite wowed by that and Cellars 1 in particular.

At the end, the half hour to chill and get bottle pours of everything they had available was great. If anyone bought a half pour, anyone else could get a taster of that beer - an appreciated touch with so many excellent options including a few specifically brewed for this new part of the operation.

Definitely get your money’s worth: 5 half pours and take home glass gets your pretty close to $35 going by their taproom prices, so you’re basically ponying up $5-10 for the guided tasting, opportunity to look behind the curtain, and try/buy a few things you can’t get without doing the tour. I would do it again on a future visit, especially if the lineup changes over time.

A last note: at one point they had us get up from the tasting and go into the barrel room, at which point I left my half drank pour of Resurgam. When I came back to it about 20 min later, its flavor had almost completely changed from lemon forward to outright bleu cheese (in a good way!). Had never got that anywhere outside of HF before, really interesting.