Allagash White Ale Wins its 4th Great American Beer Fest Gold Medal

This year’s Great American Beer Festival was the first of its kind- the first edition of the festival that didn’t take place live, in person. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GABF this year was held online, much to the disappointment of longtime festival- goers like myself and others.

But one thing continued unabated and that is the award ceremony. True to tradition, the Great American Beer Festival still judged and awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to beers in dozens of categories and while there were lots of first- time award winners, it was cool to see several classic beers receive repeat recognition. One of them was Allagash White Ale, the flagship beer brewed by Allagash Brewing in Portland Maine.

Allagash White Ale dates all the way back to 1995 when founder Rob Tod brewed his first batch of beer at his newly opened Allagash Brewing. It was a risky venture at the time, as very few American craft breweries were producing anything resembling a Belgian Wit. But Rob Tod was convinced that this beer would capture the imagination and taste buds of local beer drinkers. His wisdom proved correct and Allagash White Ale is by far the brewery’s most popular beer.

Allagash White Ale is brewed using a blend of two- row barley, pale malt, red wheat malt, raw white wheat, oats, and Carapils malt. The beer is hopped using Nugget, Crystal, and Saaz hops plus coriander and curacao orange peel for added flavor. The resulting beer is wheat- like, fruity, and at 5.2 percent alcohol by volume, eminently approachable.

Allagash Brewing’s flagship beer has now won four Great American Beer Festival Gold Medals: 2002, 2005, 2015, and 2020. Allagash White also took home a Bronze Medal at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival and has five World Beer Cup Medals to its credit. We at Great Beer Now congratulate Allagash Brewing and its iconic White Ale on another well- deserved award and can’t wait to visit the brewery and savor this most excellent beer at the source, as soon as circumstances permit.