The Stats
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
ABV: 9.0%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 3.92/5
- RateBeer: 3.57/5
Brewed with over 200 lbs of Chardonnay grapes, Victoria is a big 9.0% offering from Allagash as part of their Tribute Series. Belgian ale plus white wine? Sounds like a winner.
Pours a clear, pale orange, amber color with tons of carbonation. The two fingers of white, frothy head continued to stick around well after being poured.
Quite the smorgasbord of flavors. Belgian yeast at the forefront followed by banana and definitely those white grapes. With all of that is a spicy, black pepper accent which works well.
Banana is the dominant flavor for me - almost like a good hefeweizen. Oh, and those white grapes are just as juicy as biting into a fresh one off the vine. Make no mistake, the Belgian yeast is there to stay along with, believe it or not, some bitterness from the hops. That was a welcome addition!
In the mouth, there are tons of carbonation bubbles and it feels nice and light for a big, 9.0% beer. At times it can be a bit overly sweet, but it's not stopping me from enjoying all of the flavors. Speaking of 9.0%, I could search for days and still not find any hint of an alcohol presence.
Victoria has a lot of great Belgian character combined with those Chardonnay grapes. While it can get sweeter than I'd like at times, it is very flavorful and drinks easy.
Rating
8.6/10
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