Allagash (2020)

Is ... Ghoulship gone?!

 

Seems so, as it’s not listed for curbside. A popular beer for sure, but surprised it’s gone four days after release.

2020 vintage did go out for some distro. Check the finder: https://www.allagash.com/beer-delivery/#locator

 

...And some at my current favorite local store! Thanks for the heads up

 

Fort Point Market has it: https://www.fortpointmarketstore.co...tring-/1274?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

 

Surprised no one posted this yet...White won the gold at the GABF.

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/10/17/maine-breweries-take-home-top-prizes/

 

Does anyone actually know which beers get entered into GABF? I was under the impression it was mostly newer beers, but clearly not for White. Otherwise what's the point for another brewery to enter into the American witbier category if White is just going to clean up.

 

I believe the brewery decides which of their beers they choose to enter.

 

It's more than that, a brewery has to actively enter their beers and they pay for each beer they enter (looking online its $160/$385 depending on membership). That's what makes GABF awards a bit useless, its only the best beer of what was entered for that particular style in that year. For bigger breweries its good marketing but most beer geeks aren't going to travel halfway across the country because a beer won a GABF (whereas they will for a beer that looks great on Instagram ).

That's not to take away from winning the award. I think it's impressive that a beer that's been around 25 years can still win an award for its category. I'm just not sure what demographic uses these awards in their buying decision. In the 90's it probably would have mattered to me since there weren't that many breweries and the internet wasn't really ubiquitous. Its the same with BA scores, years ago if you went into a store and saw a printout of the BA score for a beer it might affect your buying decision but now, I wouldn't bother looking at a BA score/review unless I looked at a specific user that I trusted.

 

I spoke with a well-respected brewer on the phone yesterday for a story I'm writing. We chatted about GABF for a bit. This person told me something along the lines of this, "It's easy to get cynical and lament that there are all these new breweries and they all make 14 variations on the same IPA and they're mostly subpar, but every year, there are more and more brewery names appearing on the winner's list that I don't recognize. That shows us that there are still breweries opening -- some we've never heard of -- that are making killer beer."

And, to be honest, I needed to hear that.

More and more during the pandemic, my buying has shifted toward brewers I know, brewers I respect. 90% of my buying has been Allagash, Oxbow, Notch, and Jack's Abby. I don't regret this, but it's encouraging that when this is all over that I can still find something new and audacious and great out there.

 

Do you think that breweries enter their beers into GABF to get customer recognition or more for personal gratification (or recognition within the brewing community?)?

I do believe there are more and more breweries making killer beers but I don't look at things like GABF in my buying choices. I'd use recommendations within this forum since you get to know what beers a person likes on here based on previous posts. Whenever I travel I generally google search breweries in the general area I'll be as well as looking at their draft lineup (9 out of 10 times a brewery that has a good lineup of styles makes good beer). Bruz Beers in Denver is a great example of a brewery that apparently has won GABF awards but when I chose to go there earlier this year (pre-COVID) that didn't factor into my decision. It came up in a few searches, was on my way to my destination, and their draft list sounded great. I do the same with restaurants, I'll use Untappd to find what beers are on draft and then cross reference with the type of restaurant. A great tap list also means a great place to eat nearly 9 out of 10 times.

 

This is 100% my criteria.

If I'm traveling, I look at the tap list. If there are (for example) a couple IPAs, a pale, an oatmeal stout, a saison, a dortmunder, and some beer-to-go, I'll choose that place 10 out of 10 times.

If, however, I happen upon the knowledge that the breweries [whatever style] won X, Y, or Z award, and it's a style I like, I'll go there if I can. It's definitely not something I seek. That is, I don't read the winners and seek them out.

 

I was just perusing the Allagash website and realized that Black is no longer a year round offering. I had thought North Sky was a special release but it now shows up in the year round section. Seems like they swapped the two beers. I've had a 4-pack sitting in my fridge now for 2 weeks or so and finally decided to try it.

It seems to me that North Sky is just a reformulated Black, on the website the only difference that shows up is the type of hops used. I always liked Black but it had a bit of a chalkiness to it and some bitterness. The chalkiness is gone and replaced with a more silky flavor nearing a milk stout. The bitterness is not entirely gone but its almost non existent.

Black had always been their base stout used in their beers such as St. Klippenstein. While I liked Black I always felt the flavors of it as a base beer overpowered what they were trying to create. That changed when they released Map 40. I feel like North Sky is closer to being Map 40 without the coffee. I think its actually a good thing because Map 40 was an incredible beer. Northern Sky is a less unique beer than Black but it is more drinkable and is eminently better as a base beer for something like a barrel aged beer. I'd love to see Hibernal Fluxus and/or St Klippenstein be released being more North Sky like than Black like. Its still sad to see Black gone as a year round offering, I understand the reasoning, Northern Sky is more in line with what people expect in a stout while still being an Allagash beer.

 

In the name of starchy winter root tubers, I decided to crack that last bottle of Brewer’s Bridge for holiday supping.

The profile has transformed from the light phenolic almost hints of citrus-y hopped saison, to a nice medium dishwater blonde malt-present country ale. The belgiany esters have all kind of faded into a unique marsh mallow flavor. None of that shitty degraded hop flavor from old pale ales you get. Gonna actually pick up another bottle. Different beer, great flavor.

Really hope they cook up another batch in the coming year(s).