Alvinne Gaspar

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

Bottle 33 cl. Cloudy amber color with a big head. Very hops aroma, and typical Alvinne malt. Hoppy taste with much alcohol notes. Bitter aftertaste, like it !

330ml Belgian shorty bottle. Hoppy beers seem to be catching on it Belgium, and this is a great example. Sticky sweet with a much more balanced taste than an American hop bomb. Very nice yeast and hop balance. Alcohol very well hidden. Great beer.

Bottle at Kerstbierfestival 2006, Essen. Cloudy, deep amber with a huge offwhite head. Extremely hoppy nose- all you can take from fruity and earthy hops. Very bitter, fruity, earthy hop bitterness in the lead-no compromise. Extreme beer Belgian-style.

Bottle 33 cl. Now a give this rating taste this new beer 3 times. First (begin oct.)at the brewery. Amber colored beer with a big head and good lacing. This is Belgians most hopped beer (115 IBU). Aroma is very hoppy. The taste is hoppy with some alcohol notes and bitter. Aftertaste is all hops and bitter, but not too much.

<i>2009-01-05, bottle from A Tutta Birra, Milan, 8-5-8-4-16=41</i>
Beautiful golden color; huge head. The hoppy aroma is very nice, yet delicate, with a touch of fruits too. Malt flavor, truly Belgian, with a touch of Saaz. Very good, but I wonder what happened to the bottle I had last year, that was so amazing

<i>2007-07-07, 8-5-9-5-19=46
I don’t know what was wrong with it, but this bottle was leaking, there is a lot of yeast even below the cap and it pours 10 cm of pure foam in my Belgian glass; it just makes me believe that the bottle fermentation was too much, maybe due to the average daily temperature in Milan, ~34°C</i>

The foam drops and leaves behind a cloudy golden or light amber Ale, topped by beautiful whipped eggwhite.
The aroma is first dry and spicy, like a typical Tripel, later also sweet and fruity, with a touch of pine resin.
Good body structure, with a very good malty flavor (dry), still some sweetness, an impression of alcohol, and a touch of yeast of course.
The bitterness is bold, turning to be amost astringent, contributing to a strong and long final.

After so many IPAs / APAs, finally an Ale that takes me back to my old love for Belgian treasures. Excellent, fantastic, complex, whirling.

330 ml bottle from Vintage Cellar. Hazy amber color with a 5-finger white head. Aroma is yeasty caramel with very light funk. Medium body with frothy carbonation. The head is rocky. Flavors of ripe light stone fruit and slightly roasted caramel, and a touch of funk. The bitter bites the edges of the tongue. There are nuances I lack the words to describe. The finish has hints of sugar overborne by hop. It is so kind to the mouth. Wish it had been a 750 ml bottle. It is so, so underrated. Jerks.

(Bottled, my 800th Belgian rating, from an Orval glass) Very hazy orange-amber with a huge, frothy, very lasting and lacy, slightly tanned head, forming Duvel-like clouds. Lots of yeast in the bottle. Yeasty, malty and fruity aroma with strong, aromatic hops. Very bitter, peppery-spicy and malty, dry and sourish-fruity, ashy flavor with a smoother (but still very bitter), long finish. Medium to full-bodied, smooth’n’foamy palate with well-hidden alcohol. No, not the most balanced one around - but yes, another great beer from Alvinne! I’m sensing much of the same attitude here as with Nøgne Ø: daring and uncompromising, with no ingredients spared...

Slight hazy orange-amber beer with nice creamy off white-yellowish head. Aroma is complex and interesting hoppy with a warm barley like carracter. It has smooth hints of caramel and nice aroma’s of cereals and nuts. The taste is earthy and dry crispy, with a fruity elegance and a refreshing boost of minty and herby hops. The hints of pineneedles, dried apricots, honey, nuts, Alp flowers and smooth barley are all well in composition. The afthertaste is at first very balm like, it has a nice rondness and the 8% is well integrated in this very tastefull bitter Belgian strong ale. Served straight from the fridge in a Bordeaux Riedle glass.