Deep brown with a beige head. Dark fruits, plum, raisin, dark berries, baking spice, dark malts, rich brown sugars, oxidation. Full bodied. Finish has dark fruits, spice, candied figs. Very good though maybe a touch past its prime.

#winter

Dieses Ale hatte genug Zeit in der Flasche und springt fast ins Glas. Dabei wird verströmt ein Aroma als ob das Ale eine Fassreifung mit Rotwein, Port oder Madeira bekommen hat. Ich denke hier hat neben den Orangen Schale der Zucker eine sehr gute Arbeit geleistet. Denn der Zucker zeigt keine Süße mehr, was vermuten läßt das der in der Zeit seine Arbeit bei der Flaschenlagerung erfolgreich umgesetzt hat und wahrscheinlich ist der auch für die Imitierung einer edlen Fasslagerungen erzeugt hat. Ein klasse, aber auch recht komplexes Ale.

Strong dark winter warmer flavoured with medlar (for real this time) and fig leaves - not figs, mind you - by Belgian craft beer pioneer Alvinne, still standing strong to this day, thanks to the endurance and passion of its 'managers'. Considering it is still rather chilly for the time of the year and I do not want to wait till next winter, it seems to be about the last appropriate moment to open this one... Thickly moussey, disparately lacing, pale yellowish-beige, quite dense and stable, even creamy head on an initially clear, deep mahogany brown robe with warm copper-red glow - a lovely sight for this kind of beer for sure, turning misty with sediment. Aroma of soggy rye bread, actual medlar (a flavour I remember from childhood, when my grandmother served me this all but forgotten fruit harvested from her own garden), wet toast, nutmeg, touch bayleaf, 'graanjenever', dry caramel, green tree leaves which I can only assume represents the fig leaves (which are actually green tree leaves, coming to think about it), glazed beetroot, dandelion leaf (again the fig leaf I suppose but more bitter now), chicory, halfripe blue plum, dry earth, tea, unripe pear or even quince (peel), furniture wax, polished oak wood. Sweetish onset but not candi-sugary, with a genuine medlar effect paired with hints of pear, fig and ripe prune; low in sourness (contrary to what I was expecting) with a very faint touch of umami (black olive) somewhere - but 'dark' fruitiness prevails. Softish carb, full and rounded, smooth mouthfeel, a 'deep' body constructed by brown-bready and bread-crusty malts with dry-caramelly edges, developing more bitterish toastiness further on; this bitterness is slightly aided by a leafiness of the used fig leaves but I guess they were 'prepared' (think of Greek dolmas and the like) before ending up in the kettle. Their softly bitterish flavour is certainly present, sustained by a 'darker', also very leafy hoppiness and warming yet pleasantly inobtrusive, gin-like alcohol; all these factors emphasize the basic malt bitterishness, but enough malty breadiness is left for balance, though bitterness wins in the end. Unusual quad of sorts - lacking the candi sugar sweetness and estery 'banana' fruitiness of the genre, but making it up by the added, admittedly highly unusual ingredients, achieving the same amount of complexity in a more bitter, earthy yet sleek way. Not the easiest one around to wrap your head around, quite a demanding and stern winter warmer indeed, but all the more rewarding if you take the time and effort to dig deep enough. Reminiscent of Scotch-style 'Christmas ales' the oldskool way (especially due to the toasted bitter malt factor) but kept up to date with odd ingredients which, in the end, work well. Surprisingly sleek and clean for an Alvinne, too, but I have argued for many years that this brewery is at the cutting edge of Belgian craft and this one proves me right once again. I need more Alvinne in my life.

Bottle, 10%. Aroma of dark malts. Seemingly clear dark chestnut colour. Small light brown head. The flavour is roasted and nicely nutty, slightly sweet. Actually quite sweet.