Allegash Curieux at Costco

Labor Day weekend, 2005, my wife and I were in Maine and we made arrangements to go to the Allegash Brewery for a tour. At that time, it was in a nondescript warehouse and we went past the door a few times before we figured out where it was. The “tasting room” was a concrete floor in the warehouse and our host took out a card table, opened it, and gave the two of us, and one other guy there for the tour, a glass. We proceeded to drink some really great beer, including their tenth anniversary special brew (there were only two bottles of it left in the world for sale so we split with the other guy who was there). Then it came time to try this new concoction, which they called Curieux. Someone at the brewery had been curious (hence the name) about what would happen if they aged their beer in Bourbon casks. They went to Jim Beam and bought a bunch of spent Bourbon barrels. They aged the beer and gave us some to drink. They told us we were virtually the first people outside the brewery employees to taste the beer. It was delicious, with just the kind hint of Bourbon flavor in the background. It was bottled in 750s, and we bought a few to bring home. They are long gone, but we did open a bottle or two for the post tasting dinner at the 1977 Port horizontal we had at our house soon after (GregT, MarkG, PatrickS from this Board and a few others were there).

Fast-forward ten years. I go to the Costco in Port Chester, take the escalator up to the second floor, and I am confronted by a huge display of 750s of Allegash Curieux. I bought a bottle, but haven’t opened it yet, so I can’t quite recommend this incantation, but if it is anything like what they made ten years ago, run, do not walk, to buy some.

Way late to the Curieux love-fest Jay. It was one of the BBA “OGs” when very few breweries were aging anything in bourbon barrels. These days it ha lost it’s cache due to high production and nation-wide distribution. In the words of Yogi Berra…it’s become SO popular that no one buys it anymore. I believe I still have a bottle from the July 2011 batch stashed away somewhere.

P.S. It’s AllAgash

People still buy it. Its delicious. People that only chase Whales suck.

I see a lot of those guys here.

I agree!

How bout some tasting notes on this beer. I’ve visited the brewery and seen this around a lot, especially in Maine…but never had it. Is it a sour beer?

It is not a sour beer. Belgian Tripel. It’s been a few years since I’ve drank one, but going on memory it’s a nice beer. The bourbon doesn’t add much, but there’s some nice Vanilla/coconut from the barrels, fruity esters, hoppy spiciness, candied sugar. The bourbon barrels and hops keep it drier on the finish than a typical tripel.

What Joe said but I’ll add that when young it’s noticeably sweeter and more tropical (coconut notes specifically) as opposed to more complex and drier when aged for a year or so.

maybe will pick up a bottle…it does sound…well…curieux…

Bought a bottle of this at the brewery in July and drank a few days later. Good enough and Jorge’s comment about coconut notes is spot on. I’d drink again, but not one I’d seek out.

Our Costco started selling Curieux about 2 years ago and was about $4 cheaper per bottle than any other store in the area. I’m a big fan but about 6 months ago they stopped carrying Curieux or any better quality beers. I might have to head to a Costco in a better neighborhood to restock!

I like Curieux with a few years of bottle age. The sweetness and oakiness recedes a bit. I’ve got some going back a long time now. Great beer.

The word “only” is what disqualifies most of us. I like a few whales, but my local Total Wine has Curieux in stock all the time, and I love it!

The only bad thing is the bottle size, I am pretty poo-poo’d if I have a whole bottle.

I think you missed the first part of my post. Note my reference to being the first outsiders to taste the stuff in 2005, when you were still in diapers. They just started carrying it at the local Costco in the past month or two. I did not realize that the other Costcos had it fr years. It must be since they built their new brewery some time about 2007. There’s no way the production in 2005 at their old warehouse microbrewery was big enough for Costco.