Alvinne Gaspar

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

This is the, together with the Extra, the best Alvinne-beer. It’s bitter but soft. A shame you don’t see it in the bars so much.

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.

33 cl bottle. on 3/3/2008. Certainly a beautiful looking beer that is a hazy gold with a large, creamy white head that lasts and lasts, and leaves a sticky, stringy lace. Aroma has a strong herbal character over notes of citrus and some light fruit. Medium body and carbonation, and a resinous, very dry palate. This is quite bitter up front, with light malts fighting for recognition. A distinct medicinal flavor and quality is noted in the finish, reminiscent of iodophor, and I found this distasteful. Seemed unbalanced, lacking the malt support for all the bitterness.

Bottle from Winking Lizard. The beer pours a hazy golden-orange color with a thick and foamy light beige head that dissipates slowly. Sticky rings of lacing. Tart fruit, yeast and hops aromas. Medium-bodied with an almost puckering tartness. Cherry, citrus and spiced hops flavors outweigh sweet malt and yeast. The finish is fruity with a tart aftertaste. Disappointing overall.

Bottle. Pours a light golden color with a big fluffy white head and is heavily carbonated. Aroma of yeast, grass, light citrus, and hoble hops. Flavor is herbal and noble hops, yeast, light caramel, and has a hint of malt sweetness with a medium body and a crisp bitter finish.

Slightly hazy orange gold straw in color with an insane off-white head. It came gushing out as soon as I cracked open the bottle. Definitely the most intense nose on a beer I’ve ever smelled. The immediate impression is of potpourri. Orange and rosewater, kind of soapy, piny, hoppy, and spicy. Medium bodied on the palate, stinging carbonation gives way quickly to a very smooth finish. Flavors of orange and ginger hit the palate first followed by the looooong finish. The finish tastes of dank hops, cork, hops, oak barrel, pine, and a lot of hops. The finish makes me think of a bunch of hops steeped in rosewater in an oak barrel in a dark moldy cellar. Pretty good, interesting flavor profile, a good break from the norm.

Pours hazy orange color with a huge rocky whie head. Aroma of yeast, hops and sweetness. Flavor is bitter with mild sweetness. Thin mouthfeel with LOTS of carbonation and a bitter finish. Weird aftertaste. Memorable, but not in a good way.

Pored a slightly cloudy dark orange color with a thick rocky head that took a while to go down. Very slight sweetness to the aroma, mild earthy/dirt-like hops. Taste has a murky hoppiness that drags itself to the finish. A very mild fruitiness is apparent and some minor Belgian yeast characters. Not bad.