Specialty Releases... Part 1

As I sit on my couch on a lazy Saturday afternoon about to crack open a bottle of Stone 11th Anniversary Ale and it got me thinking... I love brewery special releases. They tend to bring out the best in that brewery. This after the special release of Lagunita’s Undercover Shutdown Ale was created when the brewery was shutdown for 30 days for allowing marijuana to be smoked at one of there events. They came back with a vengeance, creating a double IPA clocking in at 9.9% abv that packed a Hoppy West Coast punch. It was as bitter and as angry as the brewery… and it was damn tasty!

The craft beer movement toward annual and sometimes seasonal releases of these special event/occasion brews is greater than ever. There are Barrel-aged beers, when a brewery ages one of their styles in a spirit or wine barrel, and tribute series releases for a brewery anniversary, special person, or an event. These tend to allow the brewer creative freedom, and more often than not, the brewery discovers a successful recipe.

The shame of this is that most of these beers are “one-off” releases meaning you’ll never see them again, making it even more enticing to pick up the $15-$20 bottle so you can try these sometimes crazy creations. But with that excitement of trying the Oak Aged Arrogant Bastard comes the duds, a brewery releases a special beer and it is poured down the drain just as fast and say good bye to that $18 you just paid to be apart of the experiment.

With that in mind I thought it would be interesting to focus on some of the more interesting and quality special releases out there. Since these special release beers can cost upwards of $15 per 22oz/750 ml bottle, my thought is, why spend the money if the product isn't good just because it is a limited release?

First up on the list is Allagash Brewery, an exceptional brewery from Portland, Maine that focuses on artisan Belgian-style beers. One of my favorite things about Allagash is they continually strive towards enjoying food with beer and helping to educate their consumers.
Allagash has more than eight different styles in the special release series I have listed a few below. Here is the review of two of the eight below……..

Barrel-Aged Beers
Curiex-Belgian Tripel
Odyssey-Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Musette-Scotch Ale

Tribute Series
Tenth Anniversary-Witbier
11th Anniversary-Belgian Strong Dark
Victoria Ale-Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Hugh Malone-Belgian IPA
Serie D' Origine
Interlude-Saison

Allagash-Victoria Ale (Tribute series) $15/750ml bottleThis offering from Allagash pours a dark gold with a reddish tint that leaves a thin splotchy head that is quickly remedied with a swirl in my Belgian goblet glass. The nose is horse blanket, must, grape, and a hint of alcohol, dark fruits, plums, nectarine, figs, and a very complex nose.
The taste is fantastic, starts syrupy on the palate with honey, sweet prune and figs, followed by a hint of hoppy bitterness that helps put this malty masterpiece in check. The finish is warming alcohol, grass, some wheat earthiness abound. This is a fantastic Belgian Strong worth every penny.

Allagash-Interlude (Experimental series) $15/750ml bottlePoured into a wine glass a burnt orange that leaves a white lace on top of the glass. There is a slight cascade in the body from carbonation. The smell is musty, very vinos, with some fruit essence. The taste is sweet a slight hop citrus profile but dominated by a wine (tannin) quality. Finishing fruity, with a grape, sweet fruit balance. I paired this beer with a grilled steak and artichokes. The savory flavors in the steak really went well with the fruit, tannin, qualities in the beer. Overall a quality brew but not worth the $15 per bottle in my opinion.

Over the next couple of articles I'm going to dive into more of these special release beers from different breweries and try to separate out the overpriced from the quality beers that should be on your "to try" list before they disappear.

Frank Bennett