Category Archives: Wild Ale

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Laurelin 2017 Fellowship Ale N°5

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2018 Fellowship. Cuvée Sofie Schaarbeekse Kriek (2017). Fruit Flemish Sour Ale. Sweet 1/5, Sour 4/5 & Bitter 0/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Laurelin was one of Two Trees of Valinor. It was said to be some sort of cherry tree, her last fruit was made into the sun. In July we added 25kg of Schaarbeekse Kriek to a Domaine Harmand Geoffroy red wine (Bourgogne/Gevrey-Chambertin) barrel. This Cuvée Sofie aged for 16 months in this third time used French oak barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of January 2024. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy dark reddish purple colour with a thin white head, that left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour, cherry, cherry pie, acetone, nail polish, with hints of vinegar.
Taste: Sweet, sour, tart, tangy, cherry, jammy, cherry pie, cherry juice, oak, acetone, with notes of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I tried this side by side with the 2016 version, and I preferred this version a lot more. The cherry was much more prominent here and not overwhelmed by any barrel character like too much vanilla in the 2016 version. It’s still sweeter than I expected given the sweet and sour ratings on the label, and the carbonation was softer than I prefer, but this was still enjoyable as the acidity helped with the soft carbonation.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Laurelin 2016 Fellowship Ale N°4

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2018 Fellowship. Cuvée Sofie Schaarbeekse Kriek (2016). Fruit Flemish Sour Ale. Sweet 1/5, Sour 4/5 & Bitter 0/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Laurelin was one of Two Trees of Valinor. It was said to be some sort of cherry tree, her last fruit was made into the sun. In July we added 25kg of Schaarbeekse Kriek to a Domaine Noelat Michel red wine (Bourgogne/Vosne-Romannée) barrel. This Cuvée Sofie aged for 28 months in this first time used Hungarian oak barrel.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.8
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of January 2024. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy dull reddish brown colour with a thin white head that left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, oak, vanilla, cherry, marzipan, more wood, barnyard, and lightly tart.
Taste: Tart, sweet, sour, cherry, cherry wine, oak, vanilla, marzipan, with a splash of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Given the sour and sweet ratings on the bottle label, this was a lot sweeter than I expected. That in itself is not really a problem. However despite the nice cherry notes, I felt that the oak barrel imparted quite a lot of vanilla into the flavour, and probably more than I prefer. I tried this side by side with Laurelin 2017 Fellowship Ale N°5, and I easily preferred the 2017 version more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Cuvée Freddy Framboos-Raspberry

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Dark Fruit Sour Ale. Sweet 3/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Foeder aged dark sour ale with raspberries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of August 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a two finger beige head that had decent retention while leaving only some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour, raspberry, oak, and a touch of acetone.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, oak, with light acidity and balsamic.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very nice raspberry aroma and flavours. I could drink this again and again.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand, Wild Ale

Garage Project Oh What A Lovely Day Let’s Go Out And Pick Some… Hop Bine

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Foraged flowers, spontaneous ferment no.5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The latest release in our ongoing series of foraged flower ferments. For this brew, freshly harvested whole bines were plunged into a light golden base wort creating a spontaneous fermentation using only the wild yeast present on the hops. The beer was then allowed to age and develop for a year in oak barrels before being infused with another dose of fresh hops from the next harvest. The result of this brewery outing is a complex yet clean citrus like sour, bursting with a delightful fresh hop aroma.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 23rd May 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear golden straw colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sour, tart, light funk, lychee, apricot, and white grapes.
Taste: Sour, tart, white grape, apricot, citrus notes, leafy, and a touch of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: A touch acidic, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Although maybe slightly on the acidic side, the nose and taste were enjoyable.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Cuvée Freddy Bosbes-Blueberry

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Dark Fruit Sour Ale. Sweet 3/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Foeder aged dark sour ale with Canadian blueberries.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.91
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of June 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a one finger beige head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweetish, tart, blueberry skin, mixed berries, oak, with a splash of caramel, maybe even coffee.
Taste: Tart, sour, blueberry skin, blueberry, vinous, red wine, with a hint of caramel.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Another enjoyable beer by Alvinne, but the blueberries wasn’t as prominent as I had hoped for.