Today, we make Brewlimination history.  Sure, the match isn’t over yet, but as my post title says – Allagash will win.  Today features the first match of its kind – two beers from the same brewery facing off in head-to-head competition, the Allagash Dubbel and Allgash Tripel.  I was excited as soon as I realized this match was coming up, and I’m glad to get started.

These two beers have very different visual presentations.  The Dubbel is a dark orange to an almost brown color, with a red hue, while the Tripel is significantly lighter.  The two beers have very similar heads, however, although the Tripel’s drops far quicker and leaves a persistent layer behind.  The tripel is very light and quite fruity in the aroma, with a hint of herbal spiciness.  The dubbel has a very subtle, trailing sweetness on the tail end of the aroma, pairing well with the impressive combination of malts.

It’s rather difficult to try to compare the taste of these two beers simultaneously.  Both beers have a very delicious taste profile.  On one hand, the Dubbel has a somewhat generic caramel sweetness, masked behind the dark fruits and yeast flavorings.  The Tripel, however, has a wonderfully complex crescendo of flavorings, from a somewhat simple beginning to a tremendous finish.

I could easily drink another one of either of these brews.  How do I decide who to vote for?

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

First, as a quick note, a small glitch in voting for next week’s matches was brought to our attention.  It has been resolved, and all matches for next week should now be available on the Current Matches page.  Now, on to the match at hand…

Today was another case where voting was rampant during the first few days of the match.  But, by the voting effort stagnated on the last day, with neither beer able to change the gap.  Here’s what we thought:

Brad: Again I’m at a literal toss-up, this time I’m not going against the New Belgium Mothership Wit. The smoothness combined with the well-defined flavors make for a taste that reminds me of a classic vintage of wine, no hint in the finish and mouthfeel of imperfection.  The New Belgium gets my vote, though I love the Allagash too. May the better beer win!

John: From top to bottom, I think one of these two beers has an ever-so-slight edge.  On the surface, they break even on most contested areas, but I think one – the Allagash Tripel – has the edge where I think it matters most, it presents as the more 3-dimensional contender, and that’s why it earned my vote.

Fans: The final tally was 64% in favor of the Allagash Tripel.  Pack your bags Allagash, you now have two beers headed to the third round!

I think Brad hit the nail on the head earlier today in describing Division 4 of this bracket.  Prior to the start of the second tournament, I had little experience with many of the styles in Division 4, and it seems that every four days I’m glad to return, more and more so as the competition progresses.  I started today’s match with the New Belgium Mothership Wit, which does indeed have a pleasant, witbier visual presentation.  I have to say the best part about this beer is the spicy nature of both the aroma and the taste profile.  A clear spice (possibly coriander?) leads off in both, followed by a citrus and malty wheat base.  The quality flavoring goes a long way toward helping the drinkability of this brew, but the perfect level of carbonation and balance take care of most of the leg work in that department.

The Allagash Tripel, on the other hand, is another brew with a fantastic visual presentation, as I mentioned last time as well.  I loved the sweet and fruity nature of the aroma.  Upon second inspection, I could detect the clear hint of honey, but I’ll be honest in saying that I have no idea whether the fruity nature was the proclaimed “passion fruit” (and as an aside, I’m not entirely sure what passion fruit smells and/or tastes like…).  The complex taste profile of this beer really is something, expanding from an almost mute initial volume to a great finish.  The crescendo from one flavor to the next is quite impressive, and very memorable.   For the second day in a row, I’m really not sure which beer to honor with my vote today…

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Part of why I like the Belgian-style division so much is it was a step outside of my comfort zone. I’d never gone after the Belgian brews, not because I didn’t like them, just because I never thought to order them. Which is a shame because these are among some of the more painstakingly crafted beers in the tournament, rivaling the Stout division for Most Meticulously Crafted. We’ll do alphabetical order today and start with the Allagash Tripel, a sugary and fruity beer that surprised me with its complexity. This beer has an organic fruit sugar base to it, accented by some traditional hop flavors of spice and citrus. It is a very sweet beer that takes it to the next level with a crisp mouthfeel. This brew could be written off if the mouthfeel was particularly thick and the beer was just a syrupy mess, but Allagash somehow manages to contain all of the flavors within a crisp taste that lightens up a beer that needs it. Finally what I like about this beer is that it has its own identity. Much as the DogFish Head IPA series is not just “Oh, the 90-Minute Ipa, it must be stronger than the 60 and lighter than the 120″, rather distinct beers with distinct identities. The Tripel is not merely a continuation of the Dubbel, but its own beer with its own personality, and it is a winning personality.

Themes, themes, themes. I try too hard to make this middle rounds about themes. That said today is another match with a great slow sipper and a delicious bar beer. As I said before, I like the New Belgium Mothership Wit as a bar beer and I back that up by ordering it from my local pub when I step out to catch a game or race. First things first, I didn’t vote for this in round 1 because it lost in what was essentially a coin flip for me. Too similar styles left me totally unable to make a decision. I fell in love with this beer because of the finish. The sip can transition into anything: fried food, upper scale food, bread, another sip of beer, the smooth finish and the smooth overall impression of this beer makes it a great all-purpose beer. As usually goes with that praise, it is a good starter beer because it isn’t harsh. This is a perfectly balanced beer as there is no bitter overhopped notes or molasses overmalted notes, and not a hint of alcohol at all. The only gripe I could even have about this beer is that maybe it doesn’t taste hardcore enough for some of the grizzled drinkers out there and they would get the impression that this beer is lighter. If you think that, then have two. This beer can live up to any expectations you place on it and I may be reversing again to vote for a beer I missed on in Round 1.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

I’ve been looking forward to today’s match for all of 15 minutes, as I had forgotten about both of these beers until today. The Weyerbacher Merry Monks has to be one of my favorite names in the tournament, with a beer that backs up the praise heaped on the name. The Merry Monks is itself a merry beer with a refreshing summer vibe to it that is balanced with a malted sweetness. This beer is an example of how a good beer can be balanced and refreshing simultaneously as this beer is a bit of a hop hound, with good carbonation and a lighter overall impression, that is balanced by a slight thickness of mouthfeel that doesn’t make it taste overly carbonated and soda-like. I enjoy the Merry Monks and view it as a strong competitor as it does not have any overly glaring weaknesses.

As I recall, the Allagash Dubbel is a great beer that is balanced and delicious without being overly complicated/confusing, which is good for a beer that promises 7 distinct malt flavors (yikes). This brew takes a different approach to balance from the Monks, using a wooden/smoky flavor to thicken up some of the hoppier floal and pine flavors to achieve a little of both words. Personally, as a self-proclaimed BBQ buff, I always enjoy the smokier beers. The flavor does not seem easy to contain, let alone do well, yet somehow Allagash makes it look effortless. The two beers today are very similar yet quite different which makes the decision hard. Will it be the down home BBQ beer or the hop-loaded summery brew?

UPDATE:  Click Here for Match Results!

I started this match with the Merry Monks from Weyerbacher. I liked the visual presentation just as much as I did the first time with this beer, and was looking forward to diving right back in.  The sweet, fruit and yeast combination on the nose are very pleasant, and reminded me of how laid back, light, and crisp this beer was from start to finish, and immediately drew me in for a taste.  The earthy core this beer is built around is the perfect setting for the contributing flavors, with a spice present in the background and a sweeter, citrus over-layer.  A number of flavors work together to form a cohesive beer that’s heavy on the malts, while still incorporating a noticeable serving of hops.  It seems to me that there is more carbonation in this beer than I originally picked up on, but my initial impression of the mouthfeel and drinkability remain unchanged.    A  quality contender from a quality brewery, it’ll be interesting to see how this beer stacks up against its formidable opponent.

Coming from one of the several breweries that managed to push two beers into the second round, the Allagash Dubbel left quite the impression with its impressive first round victory.  I wasn’t kidding in the first round when I said the head recedes slowly, because beside the Dogzilla it has the slowest recession of them all.  After just pouring the Merry Monks, I was impressed with just how dark this beer is, a fact that had escaped me from the last go around.  I caught a very faint tinge of alcohol on the leading edge of the aroma, but the same malts from last time quickly take the stage before fading into a gentle sweetness.  The caramel flavor in the taste combines with the initial spiciness sooner than I remembered.  The dark fruits pare well with the yeast flavoring, and leads well into the dry and slightly bitter finish.  For such a minimal hops presence, this beer is surprisingly balanced for what I expect, and thus very drinkable indeed.

UPDATE:  Click Here for Match Results!

If there’s one thing I’m learning as these polls go on, it’s that you never know when the rallies are going to happen, just that they happen and some breweries like to make a statement in the opening rounds, and Allagash was no exception. Here’s how we voted:

John: I’ll be voting for the Allagash Tripel today.  Its complexity and smooth drinking nature was more than enough to earn my support.  In addition, strong nature of the Allagash brew was masked behind an impressive flavor profile.

Brad: Both of these beers have qualities that could move them on. The Red Sky at Night is a complex beer that it takes more than one bottle to truly appreciate and the Allagash Tripel has a broad array of flavors that could be overwhelming at first, but a smoothness that keeps the beer from just becoming a spicy mish-mash. I’ll vote for the Allagash Tripel today and give the Tripel a little breathing room in round 2 and see how the flavors differentiate.

Fans: Do we really need to tell you who you voted for? You know who you voted for, you voted for them almost 4 to 1 against the competition. That said, the winner in a sweep, the beer 4 out of 5 visitors to the site recommend: the Allagash Tripel.

I feel like the beers in this tournament lend themselves to much better word play than I’ve been able to come up with and for that I apologize. Today I’ll make it up with a hard-hitting, in-depth beer profile! Or at least the best I can do. I’d like to kick things off with a beer that wrought havoc on our ability to Tweet updates on the matches: the Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night Saison. Shameless plug aside, I’ve grown to enjoy the saisons as a type of beer I knew nothing about before we started reviewing, and they never fail to surprise. Anyway, the Red Sky pours to a murky orange color, like a dark hefeweizen with a kind of soapy-looking head that recedes quickly. The aromas are very light and inviting, a doughy-citrus with a little bit of a sharper scent that I cannot really place but hopefully the taste will shed some light on. Well, it certainly expanded on the scents with a lot of flavors, though none really stick out too much. There are a lot of malted flavors that are tough to place. The sweetness is like an apple/pear flavor, maybe even banana, but with the typical citrus and spice that I’ve come to recognize from a lot of tournament beers. This brew is certainly as fuzzy as its color, but I like it. I’d recommend it as a good test of your beer-sleuthing abilities.

Well in terms of color, the Allagash Tripel is surprisingly similar in hue with a lot more clarity and head than the Red Sky. I noticed that this brew smells surprisingly fruity, with a texture to the scent that is almost like a smoothie. There are some hoppy citrus and spice notes but the malted sugars really take center stage with this beer. The taste is very earthy, though the malted sugars come through in what I can only describe as a banana-like flavor that progresses to the spicy finish which is actually a nice transition. What really saves this beer and actually makes it a tasty brew is the crisp but clean mouthfeel. The overall smoothness of this beer makes the progression of flavors very natural and it makes the beer itself solid all-around. This is an interesting match and very difficult to call. Come back at 4:30 to see how this pans out because I have no idea currently.

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

The Allagash Tripel pours a murky, golden orange color with about a quarter inch of bright, white head.  The visual presentation of this beer is very intriguing, and immediately peaks my interest.  The aroma packs a punch simply upon pouring, even from a solid distance.  I first thought the aroma was full of a generic fruity sweetness.  From a closer inspection of the bottle label, I was led to believe that the “fruity” nature was from passion fruit, while the “sweetness” was from honey.  The aroma on this beer was highly successful in hurrying a taste, as much as I tried to protest.  My first thought upon tasting was to notice the light mouthfeel, as well as the minimal initial taste. This beer truly develops its flavors and explodes from the initial “minimal” taste, almost immediately.  In addition to the flavors mentioned above, I also detect a hint of banana, helping to make this beer quite complex.  With a good level of carbonation and a very clean finish, the folks at Allagash have again found a way to produce a smooth drinking beer.  As a closing note, I was somewhat reminded of the Victory Golden Monkey when drinking this beer – if I hadn’t read the bottle, I would have never known this was a 9% ABV brew.

Closing out this match is the Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night, which pours a pleasant copperish-amber color.  The moderately sized head didn’t seem to last as long as I expected, but still resulted in delightful visual appeal.  I wasn’t overly “wowed” with the aroma, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I picked up on – a sweet, roasted, malty presence with a hint of spiciness as well.  In a way, the aroma reminded me a lot of the Ommegang Hennepin from the last tournament.  The taste of this beer is more impressive than its scent, showcasing a higher complexity than the aroma implied.  The same characters found in the aroma are likewise present in the taste, but they also bring along a flavor or two that I can’t quite place.  With a decent mouthfeel and carbonation, this beer produces a similar drinkability as the Allagash brew.  But, in my opinion, this match will be decided by more than just drinkability…

UPDATE: Click Here for Match Results!

Here’s what we thought on today’s match:

Brad: So the 1554 is a beer I have frequently and am a fan of in many ways, yet compared to the Dubbel it just doesn’t stack up. I have to vote for the beer that is balanced, versatile, smooth and delicious, the Allagash Dubbel. Hopefully either you’ll get one before the next round or I can expand on it better in the next review because this brew is dynamite.

John: Both of today’s breweries made their first appearance in Brewlimination today, being absent from the first bracket.  But, only one will be getting my vote today, and that vote goes to the Allagash Dubbel.  It’s a beer that’s done very well from start to finish and leaves you wanting more, even after the glass is empty.

Fans: The voting was all one-sided in this match, and while New Belgium 1554 received a decent amount of votes, it couldn’t keep up with the Allagash Dubbel, which took the victory by a final margin of 70%-30%.

Thanks for all the voting efforts this week, and remember to keep an eye on the Schedule.  We have a long, 4-day weekend ahead of us to usher in the New Year, but we’ll be starting again strong on January 4th!  So, get tasting, vote early, and vote often!