S3 Episode 5: Competitions, Judging, and Award-Winning Beers

Thrills. Laughs. And spine-tingling tales. In honor of Haunted House, our seasonal-favorite dark hoppy ale, we're recounting some real spooky stories to pair with the beer's haunting notes of cocoa, coffee, and devilish hint of hops. Sit back in your creakiest chair, crack open a Haunted House, and enjoy these personal spooky stories from Allagash staff, as well as historically creepy tales from all over Maine.

With the arrival of Allagash Lager, our easy-drinking, crisp, and refreshing new release, we wanted to go on a trip down lager (memory) lane, to look back at all of the innovative, interesting, and totally unexpected lagers that came before it. We also talk about the development of this lager itself, and how it came down to a very difficult choice between three, very highly rated, lager recipes. Brett is joined by lager aficionado (and R&D Brewer) Corey McNutt and Hospitality Director Emily Wallace to give a full perspective, both inside the brewery and out, of our lager-brewing trajectory.

We got some pretty amazing comments when we announced the release of our Hazy IPA. (Two of these are true, one is not.)1: Never thought I’d see the day 😍 2: Definitely one of the four horsemen of the beer apocalypse3: I’m going to name my baby Allagash Hazy IPAIn our latest podcast, we had our brewmaster read and react to comments like these, and more! Plus, we talked about our thought process behind the recipe, as well as the finished product. Give it a listen!

Are you looking for a zero carb, zero calorie, zero alcohol, carbonated drink that combines the best of hoppy aromatics with the refreshment of a classic seltzer? First, wow, that's a specific thing to look for. And second, you're in luck, because, we now make exactly that: Allagash Hop Water.In this episode you'll hear from Zach and Matthew of our Quality team, who were behind the creation of our extremely tasty new sparkling citrus hop water. Available right now!

Allagash White is the most-awarded wheat beer in the world. And as of its silver medal win at the Great American Beer Festival in 2024, Allagash Tripel is also the most-awarded beer of its style.In this episode, we sit down with Brewmaster Jason Perkins and Sensory Program Manager Karl Arnberg to dig deep on beer awards. What does it take to brew an award-winning beer? How are beers even judged? And what indeed are the top beer-judging competitions in the world?If you've ever wanted to go behind the scenes in the competition beer world with two experienced beer judges, wait no longer: this episode is for you.

We're lucky to be living in a city with a ton, ton, ton, of amazing things to do, eat, see, and experience. That fact makes us even more grateful for our ranking on Tripadvisor, which states that visiting the Allagash Tasting Room is the #1 thing to do in Portland, Maine.In fact, our guests—our wonderful, sweet, smart, kind guests—have ranked us so highly, so consistently, that in 2023 we won a Travelers' Choice award, placing us in the top 10% of highest-rated attractions, worldwide.In this episode, you'll hear directly from Emily Wallace, our Hospitality Director, all about how we go about making sure all of our guests have the best experience possible while visiting us.

What happens at a tour or tasting here at Allagash? Much more than you might have guessed. We've got samples of deep-stash beers able to age beautifully for ten-plus years. We have pours fresh out of the barrel (shhh, don't tell). And we have passionate and extremely knowledgable people like Lindsay Bohanske, this episode's guest, to guide you through it all.Come for a behind-the-scenes look into our tour, food-pairing, and tasting program. Stay for a brief explanation on the origin of agrarian societies.

You in the mood to geek out on wine making? Well, you better be if you're here to listen to the second episode of the third season of our podcast.Liz and Brett are joined by Patrick Chavanelle, Senior R&D brewer, and potentially vintner, here at Allagash. We dive deep into the recent berry wines, berry wine/cider hybrids, and cider that we've created here at the brewery.So pull up a chair and drink deeply of the fruit wine knowledge that Patrick has to impart!

In the triumphant return of From Maine, With Love for Season 3, we dive into something all listeners of this podcast can appreciate: beer.First, we chat through two collaborations with Black-owned breweries: Cur-8 and Verb. Then, we dip into the details of our very first "seasonal" beer by having a brewery-side chat with Joe Jr., the brewer who came up with the beer's recipe. And we end by talking about our brand new, absolutely delicious house-made blueberry wine (and another secret blend you'll have to listen to the pod to hear about).If that doesn't sound interesting to you, please go on with your life in peace and happiness forevermore. If it does, give it a listen.Thanks, as always, for your support!

In this episode, we're joined by Allagash HR Director Celine Frueh to get into the nitty gritty of building positive company culture. This was a fascinating conversation that touches on all sorts of topics like: how we use a yearly employee survey to figure out the biggest spots for growth, how to preserve the things people love as the company grows, and the business case for giving employees a sabbatical. If you have even a passing interest in the ins and outs of good workplace vibes, this one is for you.