Allagash Hugh Malone

While I'm sitting here waiting for a beer package to arrive, via Fedex, I'll write about the a good Allagash beer I had over the weekend. I'm truly sadden by the news of Allagash being pulled from  the shelves in the South Florida region. They're great beers, but for some reason they just don't seem to fly off the shelves here, as they might in other parts of the state, or country for that matter. While at the Cigar City night at Coffee District in Delray I talked briefly with Adam Fine of Fresh Beer and asked him this question "What's the deal with Allagash being pulled from the South Florida shelves?" And he responded with this question "How often have you gone into a bar and seen Allagash on tap?" I reflected on that for a moment and responded with "I guess I haven't really seen it on tap at all down here." So I suppose of majority of the sales from Allagash are  done with keg sales and bars and such. I mean you can go out to World of Beer and order a bottle of one up no problem,  but I doubt they have any Allagash beers on tap. I can see Adam's point. But lucky enough for me I was able to snag a bottle of Hugh Malone while in Orlando a few months back. It was a little pricey,  but  since Allagash will be harder and harder to come by down south, I figured with was well worth it. 

Brewer : Allagash Brewing (Maine)
Style : Belgian Strong Ale
ABV : 8.5%

Has a darkish pour with a thick, fluffy head. The carbonation is pretty good as is the head retention. The aroma has a good amount of hop presence and the malts aren't shy either. Both the hops and the malts are prevalent in the flavor, which is more on the sweet side, but nothing too too sweet. It was a good sipping beer. I can see this bottle doing really well paired with some seafood,  such as lobster. I mean if  your drinking a beer from Maine you gotta go with the lobster, am I right?


Grade B+