To say the important part first: if you have a bottle or can of Allagash White, we recommend that you flip it upside down, gently swirl for about ten seconds, and then flip it back over before enjoying it. This quick process is what we call “rousing the beer’s yeast” and it ensures you have the best possible experience with your Allagash White.
Flip
Before opening the bottle or can, flip it over.
Swirl
Swirl the can with a nice, slow rotation of your wrist for about ten seconds.
Open it up and pour it into a glass or sip it straight from the bottle or can, whichever you prefer!
Allagash White is an unfiltered Belgian-style wheat beer. The key part of that last sentence is “unfiltered.” Allagash White’s hazy appearance comes from that lack of filtration, and it’s made up of yeast and protein extracted from the grain during the brewing process. In a nutshell, it’s a lot of the stuff that makes Allagash White so delicious.
And while we are constantly working to make that haze stay in suspension (i.e. not fall to the bottom of the can or bottle), gravity is a powerful thing. Left to sit without being moved for a bit, Allagash White will not look like the same beer you know and love if you just pour it right out. As you can see in the image below, it loses a significant amount of haze. And with that loss of haze comes a loss of flavor, and a lack of balance between the hops, grain, and yeast character.
After sitting for an extended period of time, a bottle or can of Allagash White, when poured, can appear almost clear.
With a quick flip and swirl, that very same beer would be looking hazy and delicious, like this one.
As we said above, the solution is as simple as flip, swirl, sip.
Now, that might raise a question in your mind: why has every single Allagash White I’ve had in a bar been hazy? Well, there are two reasons. Reason one is that we ship Allagash White kegs upside down. That way, when it comes time to pour, the bartender has to flip the keg over, naturally rousing the beer’s yeast. Additionally, the way kegs are built makes them pull beer from the bottom, not the top. So that pulling motion naturally acts to swirl any yeast and proteins that may have settled to the bottom of the keg back up into solution.
(A third, less humble, reason that we don’t tend to share—but it’s true—is that kegs of Allagash White don’t often sit around for too long in bars. We’re lucky to have dedicated fans.)
So next time you’re about to enjoy a cool can or bottle of Allagash White, just remember to flip, swirl, sip! And in case you forget, we even added a reminder on the cans and bottles, just in case.
