Alvinne Balthazar

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

11.2oz bottle. Poured a deep and cloudy reddish / brown color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of herbalness, lots of different spices, ginter and fresh mint leaves. Tastes of tart cherries, dark fruits, herbal, and spices. The light to medium tart and sour finish took me by surprise - a nice surprise as I liked it. Alcohol content well hidden.

2007 bottle. Hazy, reddish-brown with a slight, off-white head. Green herb and spice aroma. Flavours of coriander, honey and spice with some warming alcohol in the finish. Didn’t quite come together for me.

Brown. Yeast still in suspension. Sweet strong malts without too much alcohol. Slight yeasty sourness which isnt unpleasant and a bit too much muddy yeast flavou which isnt pleasant. A strong sweetish beer which isnt usually my thing but would be fairly successful if it wasnt for the excessive yeastiness which I dont think was intended. (Av rating given)

dark brown, burnt looking beer with no head. dark fruit, red grapes, very spiced. minty coolness in the finish. herbal, earthy aroma and flavor. light bodied. different. maybe some licorice.

Bottle at the Battersea Beer Festival, 6th Feb 2008. Pours a very dark brown with a small head. Great spicy aroma with woody notes, dark fruit and a ginger bite. Tastes superb with spices duelling with rich, vinuous fruits. There are herbal and sour notes too. Not too carbonated and with a strong warming finish. Great stuff.

Bottle, bought @ Plan B.
[vintage 2004]
Pours a murky dark brown with a nice frothy off white head - leaving lots of lacing. Aroma is musty, lots of fruits - raisins, plums, prunes and a great green tea herbal edge to it. Nice, creamy mouthfeel - very full. Flavour is lightly oxidated, lightly vinious, but with a great deal of fruity malts - raisins and figs dominate nicely with a spicy, vinious finish. Nice.

(Bottle) Pours a murky dark brown body with a large beige head. Aroma of mustiness, herbs, flora, raisins, and dates. Flavor of figs, raisins, herbs, and light toasted malt with a nicely carbonated mouthfeel.

33cl. bottle: Rich dark stained walnut wood pours from the bottle while a thick creamy dark tan foam climbs the sides of the glass. A sweet and spicy aroma rises and fills the air. Liquified licorice (the dutch black cat variety) with indian candy-coated anis seeds and some cardomom. Green herbs hide away in the back. Thankfully the flavor is less sweet and licorice derived than the aroma led me to believe. The licorice is still there though, just not as big as I expected. There is a quick shot of coffee that quickly turns herbal before mellowing into chocolate roast. Sweet overall but the roast caught me off guard at first because of the aroma. Sweet but balanced decently with the roast. Yeasty bread floats around with caramel but never completely surfaces above the roast. There is a bit of an herbal sting at points. Lively carbonation and medium body, ends nicely dry with alcohol notes.