Alvinne Gaspar

Brewed by Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Moen, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: FEB 3, 2012 Bottle: Golden, cloudy, extremely gushing, yeasty-skunky nose, oranges and coriander underneath, alcohol as well; solid bitter-sweet flavour, medium to full bodied; distinctive warming alcohol in the tarter bitter-sweet finish. Maybe a goody, but I could only grab a few drops, because the rest of the bottle sticked to the ceiling.....

A Mes rate: Draught at ZBF. Not bad. Slightly more assertive than the run-of-the-mill spicy Belgian blonde. Nothing unusual, but nice and chunky in the mouth in an "I’m gonna get you pissed" sort of way. Lots of carb, maybe a little too much. Plenty of alcohol in the finish.

11.2oz bottle. Poured a medium and cloudy amberish color with a huge (5 finger) sized head. Aromas of bananas, other fruitiness, spices, yeast, light citrus, and a little herbal. Tastes of fruitiness, spices, caramel, and some floral hoppiness. Some alcohol in the finish.

Bottle at Københavnske øldage 07. Dark golden / orange colour with a beige head. Aroma is hop, sweetness, spices. Flavour is fruit, hop, sweetness, spices. Ok beer.

Cloudy orange-yellow beer with a huge thick white head. Very inviting appearance. The aroma is very minty, fresh, bright and mentholic. There is also a lovely clove and spice aroma. Fresh Belgian maltiness. Flavour shows soft metallic hoppiness, honeyish malts and a soft, spicy bitterness. There is really no way that this is as bitter as the label states. Further warming brings up a bit of citrus and lots of herbal/spicy hoppiness. Soft peppery alcohol and a strong spicy aroma. Grassy with lemongrass and a bit of unusual zestiness. Uniquely aromatic and quite tasty. Lemon, tangerine and more mint. A strange beast, this, but I think I like it.

Pours a transparent deep golden bronze with a large, airy, clingy-lacing off-white head. Aroma of fresh grassy resiny hops and some lightly sweet pale malt. Body starts lightly sweet with some finely dissolved carbonation boosting the mouthfeel and a big earthy grassy citric bitterness before a drier finish. Has some band-aid off-flavors and could use a little more sweetness, but still a decent Belgian strong ale.

Sample is from the first trial run, bottled Near gushing to good yellow head, leaving lace; hazy orange beer with amber shine. Again very USA-hopslike nose, and a lot of caramel malts; further a certain pear-like aroma. BItter-malty, but obvious hopbitterness, not coloured malts. The malt does, however, more than support the hops, and finally imposes itself after some warming. Alcohol is obvious in the taste too. Well-bodied, slick to nearly oily; alcoholburn. Nice, and better balanced than the two other kings. It grows on you, even when the start isn’t bad at all. For using Challenger and Saaz, as well as Goldings, it is remarkably C-hop like.

Hey, another hoppy Belgian beer. Well, the last few were kick ass so let’s do it. Not as grassy and citrusy as I was expecting. Instead the nose is heavy with the spiced marshmallow yeast scents, heavy potpourri and flowery perfume scents, heavy with the oranges, and moderately heavy with the spiced cider and pine scents. Light and lively on the tongue, very bubbly, with flavors of orange cream, faint and fluffy pine needles and more pronunced citrus and lemon acidity. Good stuff, hard to classify and hard to describe.

My Bottom Line:
A vivacious earthy, spicy hoppiness spreads throughout the French toast illusions created by the alliance of bready yeast and lightly caramelized malts in this superhopped Belgian Strong Ale.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A stupendous head of foam resides atop the amber-laced honeyed gold; when the monstrous yeast shot is added though, an opaque beige murk appears, greatly diminishing this beer’s visual appeal.
-The furious carbonation does produce an inspiring appearance, but it tends to dominate the mouthfeel if you don’t let the beer breathe long enough.
-Alcohol is well hidden in the flavor profile.
-Orange zest seems to decorate the French toast sweetness.
-Noble hops colour the nose with their usual sagacity, but create an atypical aroma when paired with this yeast.

Bottle.

Bottle. Hazy orange gold with an off-white foam. Aromas are stewed apple with caramel and spices. Toasty with pine and grapefruit. Flavours are bitter pine with earthy autumn fruit. Some chocolate with woody notes and bitter grapefruit. Peppery and warming alcohol on the finish. Bitter, dry and hoppy.