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Two Rare Beers from a Legendary Craft Brewer Are Coming to Store Shelves

Allagash plans to distribute two brewery exclusives in the coming months.

Allagash

By Jack Seemer

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Without Allagash Brewing Company, American beer might look — and taste — a lot different. For 25 years, the iconic Maine brewery has blazed its own trail of firsts.

In fact, its most famous beer, a cloudy witbier called White, was in some ways a progenitor to the hazy IPAs that now dominate store shelves — if not in taste, then appearance.

allagash beer
White is Allagash’s most famous offering. It was one of the first hazy beer to gain acclaim in the US.
Allagash Brewing Company

Today, the brewery has a hazy IPA of its own, yet even super fans might not know it. Since its debut over the summer, the beer has remained exclusive to Allagash’s Portland tasting room, requiring a visit to the brewery to check it off the list.

That’s about to change.

Starting next year, Allagash will bring cans of its Hazy IPA to nine states in its Northeast distribution network.

The cherry on top? It will follow another tap-room exclusive beer — a classic pilsner brewed with New England-grown malt — set to arrive even earlier.

Allagash Hazy IPA

In some ways, both beers are slightly unexpected coming from Allagash, which has always distinguished itself by following its own path away from the status quo.

Nonetheless, an iconic, award-winning brewery of Allagash’s caliber has earned the right to do pretty much whatever it wants without much fuss — including brewing mainstream styles like a hazy IPA and pilsner.

beer can
Six different hops are used for Hazy IPA: Nugget, Chinook, Mosaic, Citra, Idaho 7 and El Dorado.
Allagash Brewing Company

In an episode of Allagash’s in-house podcast, From Maine, With Love, longtime brewmaster Jason Perkins confirmed that the new Hazy IPA has a dynamic hop blend that includes six unique varietals — Nugget, Chinook, Mosaic, Citra, Idaho 7 and El Dorado.

“We take an approach where we don’t want any one specific hop character to come through,” he said.

The Hazy IPA has an ABV of 6.7 percent and will make its way to nine states — Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey — early next year.

Allagash Lager

Joining the beer on its Northeastern tour will be another taproom exclusive named, simply, Allagash Lager.

With a 5 percent ABV, it’s made using New England-grown malt for a local twist on a crisp, easy-drinking, straightforward beer.

beer can
Even straightforward beers require twists and turns in the brewing process. Allagash struggled to picked between three different recipes when developing Lager.
Allagash Brewing Company

But even if the beer goes down as smooth as Allagash claims, dialing in the recipe was anything but.

In another podcast episode, R&D brewer Corey McNutt and hospitality director Emily Wallace said three recipes were in the running before they finally settled on one after extensive testing with its staff.

Lager will first make its way to retailers in New York, Massachusetts and Maine this month, with the rest of the Northeast market following in November.

Both Hazy IPA and Lager in packs of 12-ounce cans. A year-round variety pack with the two beers, as well as White and Tripel, will arrive later this year.

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