Alvinne Podge Belgian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Style: Imperial Stout
Heule, Belgium

Brandy and red fruit aromas. Big fizzy off white head. Nutty almond and chocolate flavors. Get lots of alcohol in this one.

Anise and German chocolate cake make a nice inviting sweet araoma. Behind that, there is a little bit of caramel. The body is very dark brown, near black with a light tan head. The taste is dominated by anise along with some plums. As I drink more, I also get some clove type spice in the finish that make me think of mulling spices. The body is fairly thick with a sticky mouthfeel. The carbonation is soft, but plentiful. Nicely done.

Bottled. A hazy near black beer with a surprisingly big and persistent light brown head. Very nice aroma, yeasty, with notes of chocolate and roasted malt. Complex flavours with yeast, dark chocolate, roasted malt and some hints of licorice. Some dark fruits too. Some resemblance to a Belgian strong ale. Full body, soft mouthfeel, high sweetness, light bitterness, long sweet aftertaste. Well carbonated. The alcohol is present but doesn’t disturb. A very strange impy, not totally balanced, but very, very enjoyable.

Pours dark brown, with a very large tan head. Aroma is roasted malt and fruit. Flavor is roasted malt, fruit, alcohol, and smoke. A highly enjoyable impy stout.

Little stub bottle. Pours out a dark brown topped with a tall tan head. A nice aroma of a porter. With some roast and smoke. Tast a lot of the Alcohol not covered very well. Pretty cool brew. But as for Imperial stout not that high on the list.

Well this is a heck of a beer drinking experience. I thought I had tried all the fusion beers but I was blown away by this. It is really a Belgian-Imperial Stout mix and it hits you right in the kisser.
APPEARANCE: Pours with a HUMONGOUS brown head that just doesn’t go anywhere. Best you can get is a surface covering thats a centimeter thickness. And of course a black body with brown highlights. So yeah, it pours like a Belgian - BIGGEST IMP STOUT HEAD EVER!! The yeasty part, well the head just looks like a pillow. You know what, I am just going lay my head right upon it (better than that $5 crap at Cost-Co).
AROMA: First of very fruity, high fermentation temperature apparent right away. A big shocker for an Imperial Stout and this really sets the tracks for the rest of the beer. Very milky chocolate behind that and a characteristic Belgian "airy" feel to the aroma. But as seen in the rest of the beer, the Belgian characteristics are usurping the traditional Impy aspects.
TASTE : Again a very yeasty-fruitiness with a grainy pepper-iness (in an Imp you say, well YES). Then it goes into a long flavor of fruit and bittered cereal with just accents of dark chocolate on the side of the cheeks.
MOUTHFEEL: Easy drinking cannot describe this. The carbonation combines with a body that seems to have little residual sugars. Making it just so damn gulp-able (thats right who ever used that term before). No bitterness and a medium-light body.
OVERALL: This is a Belgian Strong ale masquerading as an Imperial Stout and well its awesome. I would like some more chocolate, roast and hop bite. Just a pinch to make it more equal but otherwise this is a great Belgian. Alcohol, 10.5, no way Jose. Its not that its all that amazing in the end, it’s the creativity of this beer. This is what makes craft beer fun (please someone shot me if I have to drink another generic hoppy micro).
11.2oz bottle with a label that peels off very easily, Chimay goblet glass that has only a slightlly weathered silver ring around the mouth.

Strong malts with hints off coffee, fruit, and smoke in the aroma. Nearly black in color with a extra large brown head. Robust and sweet malt flavor in the beginning developing into a moderate alcohol burn then mellowing in the finish. Moderate amount of creaminess in the palate.

Bottle is dated 2003. Pours a transluscent ruby-hued near-black colour with a thick, creamy tan head that retains very well. There are small colloidal particulates suspended in the beer. The aroma immediately strikes me with yogurt, lactic notes, evolving to the more familiar scents raisin and chocolate, with some noticable booze. Complex roasted malt flavours of coffee, cocoa, vinous grapes, yogurt, dried fruits, licorice and some metallic hops (oxidation) on the finish. Alcohol is present throughout, but not so much that it becomes offensive. This is a bit of a CO2 bomb for an imperial stout, though I am aware that this is foreign and they do the style differently. The mouthfeel is similar to what I’ve found in creamy strong Belgian ales, being effervescent with a champaign-like tingle. The finish is long and dry.