Alvinne Melchior

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Pours a hazy orange with fluffy white head. Aroma is strong bready yeast with honey, spicy hops, and black pepper. Taste is sweet and malty with plum, raisins, and quite a bit of spice. Its very warm with a lot of booziness. Full bodied and medium/heavy. Reminds me almost of a brandy. The 11% ABV is quite apparent.

Lots of sediment in the pour. Very sweet and alcohol really coming through. Bit of spices in the taste. Ok beer, nothing special.

(bottle into trappist glass) From the first hint of the pour, I could tell that the carbonation was going to be off the chart and there was no disappointment there! There was no head to speak of, but the CO2 stuck right to the side of the glass the whole time. First hints of aroma were very off-putting as the main waft was that of cheese...never a good sign. Being a trooper, I pressed on, however, and found that the flavor was not too bad, if you love the aftertaste of the alcohol. I was about to give up, but found on another sip before the drain that sitting DID indeed mellow this initial alcohol taste and more of the subtle grain flavor cam forward. However, for advertising that it is brewed with mustard seeds, I could not tell at all. There was no hint of mustard at all in this drink. I would recommend letting this one air for a while before drinking for the flavors to mellow and mingle a tad first.

Bottle, 33 cl. color = dark blond, white head. Aroma: very sweet, fruity. Medium to full body. Taste much alcohol, sweet, malt, ...dry finish. Again a very quality beer off Alvinne !

UPDATED: AUG 30, 2008 First thing to mention: The European Bitterness Units (EBU) ! 60 EBU !!!!!!!! nearly equals one of the most hopbitter beers around in Belgium: XX-Bitter from De Ranke (65 EBU!) So, it is needless to say that Melchior is an extremely hop-bitter beer ! Already when Dominiek (bartender Pado) opened the bottle (with alot of CO2-pressure b.t.w.!), a wonderful hoppy aroma escaped that bottle, and was welcoming filling my nose and welcoming stroking my smell senses. Flowery hoppy, with alot of fruitiness. Challenger and EK Goldings hops are responsible for that. Malts could easily be observed in the aroma too, as aromamalts are one of them.. Tasting was a combination of sweetness and hops. Citric hops balancing the malt sweetness and also the sweetness coming from the cristal sugar that is used. Very dense beer (mushy), and the alkohol being 11vol% is something te take in account, as this beer is extremely dangerously drinkable. A subtile spiciness could be observed too. Note that mustard seed is one of the ingrediënts, and had to be one of the sources of spiciness. Ofcourse unfiltered and unpasteurised and bottle refermented. Alot of slicky yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Just eat it !!!! People, this is a living beer ! Alot of carbonation was produced during the tasting. This means lively active foam and head. A head that kept coming. A restless head really.... The first tastings were very carbonating, so some tastes were lost there. No panic, as I turned and twisted the glass for several minutes to let the overload of CO2-gas escaping the beer. Once this was done, the beer was ALOT more to appreciate.

Nice, a complexity that needs a second try. I like it but it is to much flavor to describe. I will repeat

Served in a snifter at the Bavarian Lodge. Pours a rich orange with a nice creamy head. Aroma is very yeasty with notes of orange, spice and light hoppiness. Flavors of rich malt blend with a faint spiciness at the end. At the end of maltiness a ceratin mustard spice lingers on the tongue. Its actually very good!! The 11% ABV is definitely well hidden!!

botella, buenos aromas especiados i malta. algo de alcohol tambien, y algo de resina. un poco de aromas de levadura. color ambar brillante y liquido algo turbio por cantidad excesivas de particulas en suspension. un poco dulce, poca sensacion de alcohol, pero el dulzor acentuado por este. buen cuerpo bastante robusto y buena retencion poara tanto alcohol, bastante cremosa y excelente carbonatacion para el estilo, final largo muy buena en gral. y mejor para su estilo gran barleywine, recomendable. para dias frios

I smell a bit of brown sugar, but a huge alcohol scent. Actually, it isn’t very pleasant. Luckily taste is better. The ale is bitter with a light syrupy sweetness....pretty average for a strong, belgian ale. Overall, I was pretty disappointed. I wanted the mustard seed to be more prominent (I like subtely and nuance but I don’t pick up on the unique ingredient at all). Still, I appreciate the adventurous brew.

A nice representation of the Belgian strong. Lacks the subtle notes of more complex versions, probably due to the 11% ABV gravity. Still very drinkable for such a potent brew. Enjoyable, but not unforgettable. My bottle was over-carbonated, but uncertain whether it was due to shipping disturbance or refermentation in the bottle. The cap came off like a pistol shot and the pour produced a 3/4-glass head that dissipated very slowly.