Allagash Brewery Tour

While in Maine for our annual Labor Day Weekend vacation we decided to tour Allagash Brewing Company in Portland.  My fiance (yes, we're engaged now!!!) and I met an Allagash distributor down in southern Virginia a few months ago who recommended we check out the home base to try some of their beers that aren't widely distributed.

For those who haven't heard of Allagash, it was founded in 1995 by Rob Tod as a one-man operation.  He focused completely on brewing Belgian-style beers since at the time British and German styles were the most prevalent.  His first release was Allagash White, which is now their flagship beer that you can find in stores and bars throughout the country.

I was very impressed by the amount of detailed information we learned on our tour of the production and brewing areas.  Our tour guide was great and very knowledgeable of the company and she was able to answer questions without missing a beat.  She guided us from the very beginning of the brewing process--making wort, adding hops, etc.--to the end where we got to watch the bottles get boxed up for shipment.

And then, finally, the ultimate end of the process: getting in my belly.  

After watching the packaging for a few minutes our guide lead us to an area in the brewery where Allagash brews experimental beers, some of which have been in barrels for years.  You can see right behind me is a beer that was put in a barrel almost two years ago!  They also had four brews for us to try, including their Allagash White.  At the time of our tour were got to try their Black, a Saison, and Fluxus.

Our tour brought us back to the main bar area where we tried a few more of their beers: their House beer, Zohzo, and Curieux.  Curieux was my absolute favorite out of everything we tasted.  The Allagash Curieux is a bourbon barrel-aged strong ale that's 11% ABV.  I especially liked that the bourbon flavor from the barrels didn't overwhelm the rest of the beer.  It's usually sold in a 750 mL bottle, so check your local specialty beer/wine store to find it--I highly recommend trying it!