Alvinne Melchior

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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11.2oz bottle. Not a gusher but a little bit of a foamer. Poured a medium and cloudy golden color with a larger sized off white head. Lots of suspended floaters. Aromas of yeast, spices, some fruitiness, and some citrus. Tastes of breadiness, spices, fruity, and yeasty. Medium alcohol finish.

Bottle at Københavnske øldage 07. Golden brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is sweet, alcohol, dried fruits. Flavour is sweet, alcohol, cellar notes, dried fruits. Nice sweet beer.

Pours a slightly hazy copper bronze with a spotty-lacing off-white head. Aroma of lightly sweet caramel malt and a semi-sour, funky nose. Starts lightly sweet and fairly full bodied with a citrusy tartness and some warming acidity toward the finish. Fairly interesting and hides the alcohol pretty well, but could use some more balance.

Deep foxy-amber, huge nearly orange-yellow head, extremely stable. Very bitter nose, but head prevents the real smelling. Then it gets a sweet and syrupy aroma. Sweet, cloying taste, but at the same time fruity, chocolatey. Chocolates with fruits. Just - there’s no AHAH-Erlebnis . At 11% ABV, come on! Alcoholburn, warming, long lasting sweetness. D*mn it, this is a jolly good beer. But I just can’t get excited over it. It too heavy to be subtle, and too unidimensional to be grand.

Bottled. A red coloured beer with a smallish tan coloured head. The aroma is fruity with bery notes as well as some piney hops. The taste is very hoppy indeed for a Belgian beer. It’s also very strong and fruity and the mixture of these parts doesn’t quite work. It seems like an atttempt at a Belgian style American Strong but keeping to the Belgian traditions of prickly fruity beers. A beer to enjoy, yet not fall in love with.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Gusher. Pours with a ridiculously large white head and a hazy holden body. Good lacing. Aroma is a bit tart with grapes, some spices, fruits, dryness, some alcohol and yeast. Taste is yeasty with strong alcohol, fruits, dryness and bread. Even a little bit hoppy. Lively carbonation dry mouthfeel and warming.

My Bottom Line:
This doughy Belgian Strong Ale focuses on its pillowy mouthfeel and subtle spiciness (the union of mustard seeds and leafy hops) to humbly but surely satisfy the taste buds.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A slice of foam covers the cloudy beige-golden.
-The yeast storm was inevitable even though the bottle’s been upright for weeks.
-A few banana esters are perceptible, adding complexity.
-The flavor profile is soft but not entirely compelling.
-The spicy, leafy hoppiness provides decent, but shortlived bitterness.
-Effervescence is very comfortable and helps in building this cozy mouthfeel.

Bottle.

330ml bottle (One Pint, Helsinki, Belgian Weeks 2009)
Deep gold, off-white head. Very boozy and estery, a bit of pine floor-cleaner. Tingly fruity malty body, very boozy, plenty of esters, but they’re spiky, not well integrated. Finish is sweet, boozy, and pretty hoppy. Not enough balance to make any of it work. Too boozy, if you hadn’t worked that out yet. The hops are nice though.

Tap. Pours hazy copper with an average, fizzy white head, short retention with light lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, hay, toasted), light hops (floral), and average esters (fruity) with notes of alcohol, dates, and honey. Flavor is heavy malt (cookie, caramel, toasted), average hops (floral), and average esters (apple/pear) with notes of wood, alcohol, dates, and honey. Full body, high warmth, medium carbonation, and low creaminess with a dry and biting finish.

19th July 2009
Cloudy brown beer. Semi dry and semi crisp palate. Low carbonation. Tart and a little sour. Orange, lemon sherbet well integrated with rich malt. Finishes with more sour lemon and orange. Refreshing. Hides the abv very well.