Category Archives: Wild Ale

Alvinne Cuvée Sofie Sleedoorn-Sloeberries

Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fruit Sour. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Foeder aged blond sour with foraged sloeberries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.07
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of May 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy murky rusty dark orange brown colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour fruit, berry skin, blackberries, oak, with hints of funk and acetone.
Taste: Sour, tart, dark berry skin, mixed dark berries, plum, oak, a touch acidic, and hints of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: I have no idea what sloeberries are supposed to smell or taste like, but this was enjoyable and great to drink.

Alvinne Batch #1000 Abrikoos-Apricot

Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fruit Sour Ale. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Batch 1000, a milestone on our craft beer journey. We made a long boil blond sour and barrel aged it on American oak St-Emilion (red wine) barrels. This beer was macerated on apricots for 2 months.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of November 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy rusty copper orange colour with some light sediment and a thin, large bubbly one fingered off white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Light aromas, but tart, funky, oak, lightly vinous and touches of apricot.
Taste: Light sour, tart, vinous, grape, oak, light funk and apricot.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I preferred the original base version more. I felt that the additions of apricot seemed to have taken away from the nice strong barrel character that just wasn’t as prominent in this version.

Alvinne Batch #1000

Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Blond Sour Ale. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Batch 1000, a milestone on our craft beer journey. We made a long boil blond sour and barrel aged it on American oak St-Emilion (red wine) barrels. This is an exclusive project for Beer Seeker, a collaboration between the magazine Belgian Beer & Food and online beershop Etre Gourmet.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of November 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy copper orange colour with a one finger off white head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, vinous, grape, cherry and oak, with hints of funk, vanilla and balsamic.
Taste: Sour, tart, vinous, grape, cherry, oak, vanilla, light funk, and notes of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable complex sour with nice vinous and barrel character.

Mikkeller Baghaven Polly 2019

Brewery: Mikkeller Baghaven
Country: Denmark
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2019 vintage, aged 36 months

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Blended Danish Wild Ale aged on fresh kiwi berries and guava.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2019 vintage, bottle 425 of 500, with a best before date of March 2029. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a big two and a half finger white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, light funk, fruity, guava, stone fruit, peach, oak and acetone.
Taste: Sour, tart, acidic, guava, stone fruit, peach, kiwi, oak, and a hint of funk.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice easy drinking Wild Ale with good tropical fruit notes especially guava.

Brekeriet Purpur (Vild)

Brewery: Brekeriet
Country: Sweden
ABV: 3.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: With cherries and blackcurrant

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Purpur is part of our Vild series, fermented and aged for a long time in oak barrels with mixed house cultures.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.87
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 375ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2018, and with a best before date of 29th August 2028. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear reddish purple with a slight orange hue and a big three finger pink head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, Ribena, blackcurrant, grape skin with hints of cherry.
Taste: Sour, tart, blackcurrant, Ribena, grape, with hints of oak, cherry and mixed berries.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Blackcurrant was quite dominant and so it tasted like Ribena to me. With all the fermentation, barrel aging and applying a cork to the bottle, it seemed like a lot of work for what was a tasty beer, but didn’t feel complex in aroma or flavour.