Alvinne Melchior

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

11.2 ounce bottle from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville, VA. Pours an orangish color with lots of sediment. Great lacing and head retention. Musty herbal aroma with definite mustard aromas. The taste starts off sweet with herbal and mustard notes in the finish. Slightly tart. Note alcohol noticeable, which is impressive, though it does have a slight warming quality. Full bodied. Very nice beer.

Pours cloudy dark muted orange with a thick white head. Spicey aroma. Get a definite hint of the mustard and some floral aspects in the aroma as well. Relatively thick texture and full bodied. Flavor is fruit and mustard with a little bit of earth. A bit more balanced than the Guido I had recently.

Bottle thanks to bu11zeye. Smell is malts, almost, belgian, yeast, sweet, and not much else. Look is golden hazy color with a big big head. Taste is fruit, bubblegum, yeast, and just ok.

(33cl bottle, BB 10/10) Pours a cloudy golden orange body with a small off-white head. Aroma of mustiness, white grapes, pear, yeast, berries, and spices. Flavor of yeast, raisins, clove, melon, caramel malt, plum, and rye.

Bottle. Pours a murky straw body that turns orange as it layers. Light white head. Sweet fruit up front, citrus, apricot esters, tangy mustard, then a floral bouquet of flowers. Has a dusty cardboard body with a solid alcohol warming. Drys out the tongue. My second favorite of the wise men series.

<i>From a 330mL Bottle.</i> Mostly hazy, golden orange colored pour with a thick layer of small bubbled, white foam. Bold mustard aromas jump out of the glass immediately; strange, but they work pleasantly well to compliment the apricot fruity esters kicked off by the yeast. Spicy. A nice doughy malt character lies beneath the mustard, along with some moderate alcohol. Medium light bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel with a soft, creamy texture. A light, milky malt sweetness greets the palate first, along with some herbal hop flavors. The mustard flavors are very subtle in the background, and don’t really make an appearance until the back end, where they present themselves as a nutty, stone ground mustard light spiciness. Some pear and banana esters add some dimension to the otherwise simple trio of bready malt, alcohol, and herbal hops. Finishes lightly spicy, with a lingering mustard flavor. Unique, interesting, enjoyable beer. I might have liked a bit more mustard in the flavor, and maybe a bit less in the nose. I wish I could have sampled this with some bratwurst and sauerkraut; that would have made a tasty pairing.

Bottle from Liquid Solutions in Portland, OR. Hazy ripe apricot color with a transient white head. Rich malty, fruity aromas. Full bodied. Creamy carbonation. Flavor is difficult to describe. It’s yeasty, fruity with a bit of heat. Maybe a lingering mustard note. So much better than friggin champagne (from the Champagne province). Champagne tends to make me nauseous. Anyway, this is way different and great ale.

The aroma is malty, yeasty, spicy, and herbal. The appearance is hazy gold with a nice head. The flavor is like the aroma but it’s not something I love. The palate is thin but smooth. Overall it’s about what I expected but it’s not something I want again.