Aus der Flasche im Muted Horn Berlin 2017-03 getrunken. Das hier kommt wenn es noch kalt ist recht hopfig rüber. Mit der Wärme treten dann typische, aber feine Barley Wine Noten vor. Der Fassausbau im PX bleibt überraschend weit im Hintergrund und sorgt für eine feine Eleganz. Ein tolles Teil!

I have yet to taste the original version of Cuvée d’Erpigny apparently, but this was the only one available at the Prik & Tik in Zele so let’s give it a try. Aged on Pedro Ximénez barrels, a type of sherry. Irregular, pale greyish white head, leaving behind ’dots’ of lacing an settling into a coarse moussy rim with some thin ’islands’ of foam in the middle, quite stable for a 12+% beer; lightly hazy orange blonde robe with warm, ’rosy amberish’ tinge. Strong bouquet of sweet white wine, almond, strawberry, overripe peach, soaking wet oak wood including the vanilla aspect, sweet sherry, starfruit soapiness, biscuit, marmelade, white pepper, ginger, fermenting red apples, cognac, buttermilk, candied apricot, orange rind, clove-like phenols, honey, chalk, yellow raisins, fresh paint, caramel candy. Sweet onset, lots of ripe peach, ripe pear and pineapple with a subtle touch of banana, bit sticky even but balanced out by underlying, quite expressive gooseberry and redcurrant tartness accentuated by a lactic, almost buttermilk-like accent of the Morpheus yeast strain, lasting till the very end; residual white candi sugar syrup however ensures that the sweetness remains dominant. Mildly but adequately carbonated, full, rather soapy and thick mouthfeel, a tad vinous towards the end; the sweet and lightly sourish fruitiness remains powerful and expressive crossing the brigde of deep, caramelly and bready, rounded malt sweetness, and so does the ’white’ sugariness which confronts a drying oak factor in the end, adding tannins and an explicit dessert wine - or indeed sherry flavour, stretching way back into the throat. Meanwhile hops provide an earthy background bitterness but do not otherwise interfere with the play of sweetness and tartness; unsurprisingly, alcohol reigns the final act, sherry-like as expected but brandy-like as well, with a strongly heating effect, though managing to avoid unpleasant wryness, even though I can literally feel the heat go downwards. The very expressive, sour ale-like fruitiness, with still that beautiful marriage of sweet and sour, even survives this, even if it has turned more and more sweet grape-like in the end. The earthy and phenolic accents remain at bay and add complexity to an otherwise sweet English barleywine-style ale. If ever there was such a thing as ’Belgian style barleywine’, and a case can be made for that, I reckon Bush Ambrée could serve as its archetype, but this one - along with several elaborations on the Bush theme by Dubuisson and those legendary Special Reserva versions of Dolle’s Stille Nacht - surpasses that, in bringing warmth, complexity, consolatory sweetness and soft but ’cordial’ spiciness all together in one glass. A case could be made for this being a tad too sweet and needing more ’end dryness’, perhaps, but if this is intended as a barleywine (and I think it is - in any case much more so than a quadrupel), this is a very accomplished, contemplatory, multi-dimensional beer with a thoroughly Belgian streak to it. Without a doubt one of the better Alvinne achievements I came across thus far and very motivating to go out and find that original version, which I heard is darker and more actually quad-like.

On tap at ACBF2017. Pours hazy deep orange with off-white head. Fruity, ripe fruit, malty, caramel, sherry, wood, sweet, sourish, nice sweet and sour balance. Complex. Medium to full bodied. Pretty much everyone seems underwhelmed, but I’ve enjoyed it.

04/03/2017 draught tasting glass @ACBF, Vichte Hazy orange with small creamy head. Nose is sweet malts, caramel, some wood. Taste is sweet malt, creamy liquor touch, wood, definitely sherry notes, sour touch, dry ending