Allagash Fluxus 2013

Brewed By: Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine  

Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Porter, 6.4%

Reported IBUs: ?

Tonight's beer was a random hook-up. I saw "ale brewed with blood oranges," and like orange pasties at a rave I was drawn in without checking my shit. The next morning I realized the gravity of my situation, and I did the only thing you can do when you're given oranges. Put them in your ass. About Allagash:

Allagash is a brewery based out of Portland, Maine. The company was founded in 1995 by Rob Tod, who designed a 15-barrel brewhouse, and began brewing some of the first American Belgian-style ales. Rob found success with the Allagash White, and expanded his operation. In 2001, Allagash began caging, corking, and bottle conditioning their beers. Since then, they have continued to celebrate Belgian-style beer.

The Fluxus is part of Allagash's Tribute Series. Allagash donates $1.00 from every bottle sold to a different group, organization, or fund. The Fluxus is brewed every year to commemorate the anniversary of Allagash's first beer sold in July 1995. As indicated on the bottle, "fluxus" means flowing or continuous change. Every year Fluxus is brewed with a different recipe. The 2013 Fluxus is a porter brewed with 2-row, coffee, and chocolate malts, with blood orange pulp and zest. If you know me, you know that I love coffee and citrus, and think the pairing is fabulous. This beer was hopped using Perle, Tettnang, and Glacier hops. The beer is finished with Belgian Abbey yeast. Described as a full-bodied beer with chocolate, roast, and orange notes, this beer should be anything but boring. Last and most importantly, for every Fluxus 2013 sold, $1.00 goes to the Allagash Pediatric Nurses Scholarship at the Maine Medical Center. 

Allagash Fluxus 2013 

The 2013 Fluxus pours a cola-black color with one to two fingers of dark, coffee/khaki/brown head. In bright light the beer has radiant shades of ruby and red on the edges, with a brown/black center. There's a torch of carbonation exploding off the glasses' nucleation point, and a pinky of head is sustaining nicely as you might expect (thanks Belgian yeast). 

The aroma is spicy and smokey and earthy, and I'm getting some leather. There's big peppery spice, coffee, chicory, some very woody chocolate/vanilla, and faint orange fruit. 

This is pretty easy-going, with lots of peppery spice, coffee, chicory, hints of light, earthy, Noble-esque hops, a kiss of orange, and some woody roast. Some velvety chocolate comes and goes, and there are hints of anise and black licorice in the mix. The Belgian Yeast is spicy and assertive, and drops some hints of dark fruits, and the whole thing has hints of earth and smoke.

As far as Porters go, this is very nice. Certainly up there with a Stone or Firestone. This is medium-bodied with good palate depth and good complexity. The 6.4% is completely hidden, despite a few reports that this is boozy and dense. What? This has good density/body, but in the best way possible. I guess my only thought is the blood orange could be a bit more pronounced, and for the grocery list of ingredients, I'm mostly getting coffee, roast, and some wood/earth/smoke. You get roast, a kiss of orange, and coffee/chicory up front; that rolls into earth, smoke, some peppery spice and Belgian yeast, and some hop kick; the back end is smoke, anise, some dark fruits and pepper, more roast, and fade to dry. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

 

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I'm a pretty tough critic regarding Porters, and this is certainly up there with the better ones. There's a nice underlying complexity here, and the Belgian yeast actually provides a nice subtle twist to this beer. I wish the orange was a bit more pronounced, but what can you do. Bottles of this were selling between 15 and 20, which is a lot. I wouldn't necessarily prioritize this, but it's worth checking out if you're looking for a good Porter. This is certainly comparable to Stone's Smoked Porter or something like that. I would pair this beer with meaty pizza, dry chocolate cake, a raunchy burger with fries, poutine, or anything playing off the chocolate/cheese thing. You could also pair this with ice cream or vanilla. 

Random Thought: I'm glad it is hump day, because I'm ready for the weekend. Is that bad? Probably.