Alvinne Podge Belgian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Style: Imperial Stout
Heule, Belgium

Pours a deep brown with amber notes and a large bubbly light tan head. Aroma of caramel, some roasted malt, toffee and nuts. Flavor of roasted sweet malts, toffee, nuts, molasses, black licorice, vanilla and some smoke.

Very dark brown, huge initial head fades into a long lasting layer of creaminess that left great lacing. About perfect here. Aroma was Belgian style yeast, milk chocolate, and some alcohol notes. Plums and chocolate move into an almost woody, alcohol finish. Rather complex, and significantly better once warmed up to near room temperature. I really liked this as a clearly Belgian take on the Impy Stout style. Perhaps a bit lighter bodied than it could have been, but excellent nonetheless.

Very dark brown beer with a reddish shine, dense beige head. Aroma of roasted malts, red fruit, some moccha..unmistakenly belgian in character. Taste is sweet, sugared fruit (like turkish fruit) before a mild toasty bitterness comes in. Quite carbonated. Though warming, alcohol is well hidden. Very nice, could have been less sweet to balance it off better, but very satisfying.

Pours coffee black with large tan head. Aroma of coffee, caramel and dark chocolate. Flavor matches.

This is the only Belgian Imperial Stout that i’ve tried...coffee colored pour but less opaque than expected. Aroma wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet and had strong alcohol nose. Mouth feel was a thin, ample carbonation, almost foamy. Flavor was full with caramel start followed by a bitter cocoa and somehow sour finish.

Bottle gushed upon opening, and I was able to get half of the bottle in the glass, including the massive head of tan foam. The body of the brew is almost black and certainly opaque, with light only passing through when held directly to a light bulb. The nose is laced with candied coffee beans, caramel, and roasted chocolate bits. A hint of a vineous note starts to develope. Sweetish and nougat-like. Mouthfeel is thinnish for an imperial stout. Quite effervescent and sticky on the tongue. Lacking chewiness and viscosity. The pallet is roasty, chocolaty, and alcoholic. Kahlua-like and very warming. Plenty of residual brown sugar and a hint of maple syrup. Finishes very warm and sweetish, with a lingering boozy note and more coffee liqeur.

Plenty of head, typical of a Belgian. Pours a deep, dark amber, the reddish tint is just visible at the bottom of the glass. Strong malty aroma & flavor, but finishes with a very pleasant, rounded, thick sweetness. I think that this Belgian imperial comes closest out of the few I’ve had so far.

Bottle: Pours a dark black color with a tan head. The nose is spicy with some belgian yeast, some light fruity esters and a touch of roast, aged hops and everything. The flavor is strong, some chocolate and darkER malts, but nowhere in the black patent/roasted barley/black barley range. They must have stopped short at chocolate and maybe a few ounces of black patent in a whole patch. I can picture them carrying it around in their HAZ-MAT suits. Anyways, it’s a good dark belgian, but NOT an imperial stout.