Allagash Four (and beyond)
As promised yesterday, here are details from Brew Like a Monk about Allagash Four, one of the beer Saveur praised in putting Allagash Brewing in the Saveur 100.
He (Rob Tod) uses four yeasts in Allagash Four, brewed for the first time in 2004. “Everybody told us, ‘You have to do a quad,’ ” Tod said, talking about the “quadrupel” style that’s not quite a style. Allagash brews its version with four malts, four hops, four yeasts, and four sugars, and a fermentation regimen nearly as rigorous as Duvel’s bottle-conditioning.
Allagash mashes date sugar with the malts, then adds light candi sugar (rocks), dark candi sugar (rocks), and light golden molasses in the kettle. The beer begins fermentation at 1.078 (18.9 °P), and the first yeast will complete about two-thirds of the work.
“At that point we bring the starting gravity up six points (with sugar) and add a second actively fermenting yeast, and let it go as far as it can,” Tod said. “We’ll condition that for a week, storing it at fermentation temperature. At this point the yeast is incapable of vigorous fermentation. We’ll transfer it to a second tank, raise it another six points, and add a third active strain. We’ll let that continue, then condition two to three weeks. We filter out the first three yeasts, add a fourth, and sugar and bottle it.”
The beer finishes with about 10% alcohol ― going from 1.090 (21.6 °P) to 1.015 (3.8 °P). Tod estimates the bitterness at 30 IBU. “We haven’t even calculated it,” he said. “At this stage we look at the levels of (alpha acids) we’ve added to other beers and have a feel for how much hops to put in.”
The results delight him. “Each fermentation adds complexity and layers of flavor,” he said.
Allagash Four was a decided step out of the ordinary for the brewery. But by the time the first batch finished bottle conditioning, Tod had acquired used whisky barrels to begin aging beers on wood. The picture below is from June of 2004, shortly after the first barrels were put in place and Allagash Tripel added for aging (Curieux, released in October 2004).
The newist beer is Interlude, which underwent pPrimary fermentation with Belgian Farmhouse Ale yeast and Brettanomyces. It was aged in French oak Sirah and Merlot barrels, then bottle conditioned. It’s 9.5% abv.
“One of the things about brewing Belgian beers is the whole style encourages experimentation,” Tod says. “I’m excited about developing a library of beers.”
Where do we sign up for a card?
