Special edition of Alvinne's (probably) most 'basic' Flemish red, Sigma, macerated with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries; steinie bottle from Etre Gourmet, lot 1100 apparently. Thick and mousy, cobweb-like lacing, yellowish beige, audibly crackling and very stable head on a very dark, 'rustic' ebony brown beer with misty reddish burgundy glow. Intense, beguiling bouquet of indeed lots of fruit, but merged in the beer's own - quite outspoken - character, creating impressions of indeed strong blackberry, blue plum, ripe nectarine, blueberry juice but far less raspberry (if any), lots of vanilla-scenting oak and 'old furniture', tawny port, caramel sauce, raisins soaked in red wine vinegar, marsala, hints of grape skin, marmite, rosehip tea, 'fresh' earth, burnt raisins, varnish, porcini fried with brown sugar, dry sherry. Tart, very estery onset, acidic at first and a bit sharp even without becoming unpleasantly vinegary, lots of blackberry, less blueberry and again hardly any raspberry (apart from their 'pure' acidity), softening sweeter fructose and maltose 'buffering' the acidity a bit, additionally hinting at ripe pear, blue plum and grapes; medium carbonated, supple, full and even somewhat vinous mouthfeel. Deep, full caramelly maltiness with light cashew-nutty and eventually toasty-bitter sides, thoroughly merged with this wonderfully fruity, complex, vinous tartness - with a lovely oakiness being added in the finish, drying and notably tannic. Ends drying, complex and warming, combining elements of lingering berry wine-like effects (again with blackberries in the foreground), estery fruitiness, a sherry-like vinous character, woodiness and some subtle earthiness, accentuated in the very end by a lingering, very late but still spicy, herbal hop bitter note, all tied together by a glow of warming, gentle port-like alcohol. I could keep writing about a beer like this forever, this is fruited 'oud bruin' of international class: the berries used do not overtake the rest as is so often the case in sour fruit beers, instead they merge with the complexity of the basic beer into one fantastic whole, that has become even more complex than the regular Sigma (which has significantly changed - or rather, improved - throughout its six (?) years of existence). Beautiful beer, Alvinne at its best, and that is saying a lot, considering this brewery's general level of quality.

Damn... Again, so fruity... Bit sour, sweet... Balanced! Top unique beer from top unique brewery. --- Beer merged from original tick of Sigma Wild Forest on 13 Apr 2020 at 23:21 - Score: 8. Original review text: Damn... Again, so fruity... Bit sour, sweet... Balanced! Top unique beer from top unique brewery.