The first one in Alvinne's Fellowship of Exceptional Ales, a special membership the brewery launched last year, for which this and - so far - eight other very limited brews were created, a completely new concept to the Belgian beer world. This first treat is the wine barrel-aged batch #1000 with lingonberries and blueberries added - so a follow-up to the apricot version of the same brew, so to speak. Limited to only 473 bottles. Forms a mousy, pale off-pinkish, somewhat irregular and lightly lacing head with flat 'islands' in the middle, crowning a misty cherry red beer with warm vermillion hue. Very fruity and complex nose: a frame of rustic old wood embraces impressions of indeed strong lingonberry (Swedish lingonberry jam almost) and equally convincing sour and tangy blueberry, next to hints of damp earth, sour yoghurt, red wine vinegar, soaking wet bread, some underlying caramel, sour cherries, dusty attic and vague touches of wet clay and tomato concentrate. Bursting with fruitiness from the start, the onset is deeply colored with tartness and astringency from the berries, with the flavor of both types still recognizable; the fruit's fleshiness provides a balancing softness, almost sweetish, against the overall acidity, maintaining high drinkability in combination with soft carbonation and a mellow, smooth mouthfeel. More maltiness develops in the middle, softly bready with a light caramelly edge, remaining deeply soaked in generous berry fruitiness, with both a 'stewed' kind of fleshiness and sharper astringency from skins and seeds, supported by background lactic tartness from the wild yeast activity and supported by tannic woodiness. The beer ends tart but with the soft maltiness absorbing part of that tartness; vinous, tannic and earthy features abound, with an unexpected and very late bittering note in the end. This beer was long-expected indeed, but it is more than just a party: this is a banquet of nordic-themed, 'foresty' fruitiness, in which maltiness clevery shaves off the sharpest edges of berry sourness. A banquet that would befit an elderly Hobbit's birthday indeed - but more importantly, one that sets the stage for an adventurous journey into the creativity of one of Belgium's most prominent and fascinating craft brewing projects.