On their journey from a one-man operation in 1995 to becoming one of the most well-respected brands in the beer industry, Allagash Brewing Company did some exciting things in Spring 2014.
THE ALLAGASH COMMUNITY
Allagash are a New England brewery making Belgian inspired beers.
They are keen to make a contribution to their community. They run a Tribute series of beers as part of which Allagash donates one dollar from every bottle sold to various education funds, conservation groups, local arts centres and agricultural causes.
That community starts within the brewery. Every staff member at Allagash, whether that be a warehouse operator or sales rep, has the opportunity to come up with their own recipe for a beer and to work on it in small batches.
They also run an initiative under which all employees who have been with the firm for 5 years are invited on a work trip to Belgium. They get to travel together and learn first hand about the traditions of the beers in Belgium which have inspired the brewery.
“If the brewery was run by an accountant, we would never be able to engage in initiatives like this,” says Jason Perkins, Brewmaster at Allagash. “We probably wouldn’t be able to take part in events in Belgium either. But the brewing industry is all about people and that there is no way the impact of such initiatives can be justified by financial measurements.”
Allagash engage in many innovative projects. Here are three they took part in during Spring 2014:
1. THEY POURED AT THE ‘NIGHT OF GREAT THIRST’
Not only did they completely sell out of their Coolship beer within the first couple of hours at the Night of Great Thirst, but they were the first brewery pouring at the event to do so.
The ‘Night of Great Thirst’ or the ‘Nacht Van De Grote Dorst’ is a Belgian beer festival organised by Het Geuze Genootschap (the Geuze Society) and HORAL (the High Council for Artisanal Lambic Beers) which seeks to promote traditional lambic and geuze beers both in Belgium and around the world.
It takes place every two years in the village of Eizeringen in the Payottenland and began as a protest to Belgian health and safety officials who wanted to shut down lambic breweries. This festival was a way to demonstrate to the government that theirs was a unique way of brewing which should be protected.
The Geuze Society is keen to promote those beers produced outside of Belgium which are brewed according to this process of spontaneous fermentation and so Allagash were invited again in 2014 as the only non-Belgian brewers pouring their beers at the event.
“We’re honoured to be invited to this festival,” says Rob Tod, Allagash founder. “We don’t name our beers ‘lambic’ beers out of respect for the brewers here in the Payottenland and Senne Valley who brew in this way. Instead we call them ‘spontaneously fermented’ beers.”
These spontaneously fermented beers make up their Coolship range – Resurgam, Red and Cerise – and they didn’t last too long at the event. If you are going to the Night of Great Thirst in 2016, maybe pick up some Allagash first?
2. THEY COLLABORATED ON A SPECIAL BEER WITH RUSSIAN RIVER AND CANTILLON
Allagash poured a select range of their beers at the ‘Quintessence’ event in Belgium together with Russian River Brewing Company from California. The event took place on Thursday 1 May 2014 at Cantillon Brewery in Brussels.
Each of these three breweries have developed strong relationships going back to a trip in 2006 on which a handful of American brewers travelled across Belgium to learn more about their brewing techniques and processes. Since then, the bond between the three breweries has flourished on the basis of mutual respect for each other and a spirit of learning, collaboration and friendship.
And it was this friendship – and their common passion for the traditional process of lambic brewing – that resulted in a new and very special beer being produced specifically for the Quintessence event: The Wild Friendship Blend or in French, the Assemblage De L’amitié.
Assemblage De L’amitié is a blend of spontaneously fermented beers from each of the three breweries in equal proportions: 1/3 Russian River (Sonambic), 1/3 Allagash (Coolship), and 1/3 Cantillon (Lambic), each of which is of a circa 2010 vintage. It pours orangey golden with a vinous nose of fruits, flowers and funk with citrus notes and a lively, dry mouthfeel.
Perhaps more important than the taste of this beer was the significance behind its concept: a blend of three special brews – Sonambic, Coolship and Lambic – by three collaborating specialists – Russian River, Allagash and Cantillon – from different parts of the world – California, Maine and Belgium. And romantically, this was a blend poured only at Quintessence, where all visitors had the opportunity to try it at their own pace. The Wild Friendship Blend will not go on commercial sale.
Kegs filled with base Cantillon lambic have been sent to America and last week Vinnie from Russian River travelled to Allagash to start blending a stateside version of the Wild Friendship Blend. Keep your eye out for release dates if you are in the U.S.
3. THEY LAUNCHED ALLAGASH SAISON
Allagash don’t often release year-round beers.
They have several staples which sell like hot cakes such as their flagship Belgian style wheat beer, Allagash White, and their strong golden ale, Allagash Tripel.
This seeming reluctance to release new year-round beers is not to say that they don’t experiment. They take part in lots of one-off exciting collaborations with Belgian breweries such as Very Spéciale Belge with Brasserie de la Senne in Brussels, Les Deux Brasseurs with De Proef Brouwerij in Lochristi, and Fedeltá which they brewed with the fantastic guys from De Struise Brouwers.
They even collaborated with New Belgium brewery in Colorado, the Belgium inspired breweries naming their collaborative brew, ‘Vrienden’ which translates from Flemish as ‘Friends’.
But no new year-round beers. Until now. For the first time in 7 years, a new Allagash year-round. A Saison.
Traditionally, life on a Belgian farm was cyclical. During the summer, not only was it too hot to brew but farm workers did not have enough time to produce beers as they were busy harvesting the crop. So during the winter months, they brewed a beer on farms specifically for the farm hands toiling in the fields in the warm season or ‘Saison’.
Crucially, Allagash have selected a yeast strain which equips the beer with a peppery spice and citrus character. They use their proprietary malted barley as well as malted rye to equip the beer with more body. They’ve used some oats to develop a silky creaminess. They use dark Belgian candi sugar which offers a background caramel notes.
Saisons are notoriously dry and hoppy, but they are also well known for their fruitiness. Allagash use Tettnang, Bravo and Cascade hops to emphasise the citrus aromas and give the beer its bitterness.
HERE COMES THE SUMMER
I’m looking forward to their next trip to Belgium.
Photos by Allagash Brewing Company / CC BY
