Jul 13, 2018

Allagash Belfius

I’m a big fan of Allagash Brewing’s wild beers. The company just knows how to wrangle those outside elements to the benefit of the drinker. They also know how to make one hell of a good saison. So it would only make sense that Belfius, a blend of the brewery’s Coolship Beer and their Saison, should be just as good, right? Well, mostly.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with Belfius at all. The blend of flavors work quite well with each other. There’s a cohesive array of wild yeast, funkiness and a measured tartness leading the way for grain, soft woody notes and lingering spice notes. The mouthfeel is crisp and light bodied as everything swells to a peak, eventually fading slowly to the drying and lasting finish. All sounds great, right? And it is. The only issue that I really have with Belfius is one of choice. I almost would rather have one or the other of the two blends instead of downplaying either’s presence within the blend.

Belfius is an interesting beer. I enjoyed the overall experience, but having had their Saison and stand alone coolship beers, I’d almost rather have either one or the other. The blend, I feel, reduces the impact of each individual beer which is to be expected in a product like this. That all said, I also think that Belfius would be a great beer for a bit of cellaring. Some additional time in the bottle should prove an opportunity for the beer to further develop. Perhaps I’ll need to pick up a few more bottles.