Alvinne Melchior Bourbon Barrel Oak Aged

Brewed by Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Style: Barley Wine
Moen, Belgium

Serve in Snifter

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A Mes rate. Bottle at 1st Borefts Beer Festival.
Excellent clean gold with a good white head and lace. Aroma is amazing. Fruit a plenty, really good sugary notes and some excellent barrelly notes. The flavour is equally brilliant. Soft and sweet, beautiful apples and tropical fruit. Unusual juicy yet dry feel. Excellent barrelly character and gorrrrrrgeous booze in the very lengthy finish. Not my best rate but this is one of Davey and Glenn’s best.

On tap at Borefts 2012, Bodegraven. Pours moderately hazy caramel-gold with a fine, white cream head. Sugary malt aroma with punches of honey and toffee. Big sweet flavor with honey, toffee, apples, light alcohol, fruitcake. Full bodied with fine carbonation. Sweet finish with mild warmth, sticky sugars, mellow dry wood, ripe apple, rich bread. Quite well rounded and not too cloying.

A: The pour is a slightly hazy golden straw color with a bit of yeast sediment finding its way into the glass. S: Quite a bit of bright fruit notes in the nose. I pick up some apples, pears, lemons, and maybe even some white grapes. The bourbon/vanilla is subtle, as is the oak. T: The fruit character is just as prevalent on the palate. The bourbon comes through a bit more and provides a bit of warmth and some vanilla flavor. Lots of white grapes and apples really stand out and keep this one "light" for such a strong beer. M: The body is surprisingly light (in a good way) for such a potent beer. Good carbonation, which I was not expecting either. D: This was dangerously easy to drink. I think I was the only person that was a real big fan of this one at the tasting, but I thought it was quite interesting, especially compared to American bourbon barrel beers.

50cl bottle picked up at the De Molen bottle shop pours with a clear copper body that harbors tiny floaties and supports a tall billowing light tan head of foam. the first whiff of the aroma was pure sweet bourbon and vanilla and nothing else. A few more drags hints at brown sugar, prune and raisin like esters. Well, those notes are faint but the booze, bourbon and vanilla are not. Wow, the taste is sadly similar with sweet vanilla and bourbon and really very little else. I guess at least the booziness is smooth and isn’t coming across hot or harsh. That said I wish there was more balance and more of the base beer coming through. If I’m getting beneath the barrel treatment I seem to be getting sweet raisins, prunes and a black pepper note. Too much barrel time for my taste.

Bottle sample @ 19de Internationale BierHappening, Zottegem. Thanks Glenn. Orangée/cuivrée trouble, col est blanc et fin. Arôme est effectivement plein de Bourbon,bouquet garde un côté généreux belge dans un style belge forte avec un malté conférant une pointe biscuité. Palais est réchauffant, sucrée léger roux, profile restant très belge dans son approche plus que un barley wine comme on les imagine avec le Bourbon qui enveloppe tout le palais, ici le boisé reste subtile. L’alcool est bien présent et réchauffe le palais et garde ce fini malté caramel sur un beau pétillant. Boisé est subtile, avec un profile fruité pêche fermenté qui indique la base de Melchior. Pointe houblonnée vient en fin de bouche et contribue subtilement à l’ajout très discret d’une amertume fleuri. Pas mauvaise, mais là on dérive un peu de l’original Melchior qui perd ici quasi toute la présence de graine de moutarde.

Small offwhite head. Hazy amber body with huge floaties and carbonation. Dried fruit vanilla aroma with bubble gum notes. Dry-sweet dried fruit and bubble gum vanilla taste with alcoholic notes. Mid-bodied. Sharpish, slightly hot mouthfeel. Dry dried fruit and vanilla aftertaste with grassy bitter notes. Really interesting, but a bit strong and sharp. (0.5l bottle, shared by Ole_R.)

Bottle kindly shared by OleR. Malty sweet, very rich oaky character. Moe vanilla and wood than whiskey. A wood aging showcase.

@BBF12. Pours cloudy dark amber with a small white head. Aroma is caramel, bourbon, oak, vanilla and dark dried fruit. Flavour is caramel, alcohol, oak, vanilla, bourbon, dried fruit, raisin, pine and grass

(Bottled) Tartness and wet wood in the nose with pale maltiness and aromatic hops. Lightly vinous flavor with pale malt, tartness, some sugar, vanilla, pear and lime notes, not too sweet. Alcohol fully hidden. I would call this a success - quite balanced and enjoyable. 4467

Draught @ Borefts 12. Lightly unclear orange color, no head. Smell sweetness, malts and lightly bourbon. Taste malts, sweetish and also only lightly bourbon. A bit disappointing. Medium body, low to medium carbo.