Pipedream
Picobrouwerij Alvinne

 

 

well, this whole pour was a mess. bottle showed some sign of leakage or rust on the bottlecap.. chilled it for a while and when popped open it gushed like no other gusher i've ever experienced (aside from some of my first homebrews). the 8 or so ounces i managed to rescue into the glass were of a muddy cloudy orange color, with tons of brown yeast sediment left behind on the lacing. obviously, it was bottle conditioned, but a simple warning could've been nice so i could open it over a sink!.. anyway, on to the better half.
this beer smells awesome. lots of mango and tropical notes.. pineapple, a bit of brett (?) jasmine/barnyard funk. very nice aromas really make you forgive them for taking a beer shower.
a very strange flavor profile.. something like a mix between berry flavor cough syrup and those scented magic markers we used to get in elementary school. tropical notes are still in the flavor but there is a very strong alcohol/rust flavor that is just off putting. there is definitely some sort of infection here - sure it gave the smell a hell of a lot to work with, but the flavor is really not that great. still drinkable, and unique - but i really doubt this is what the brewers intended this to taste like.
medium in body with a good amount of carbonation - even though it was a gusher, the carbonation died down a bit and became easy to drink.

overall - i'd say to give this one a shot. reading other reviews, it seems like i got one of the few bad bottles of this. everyone else seems to have the aroma/flavor on the same page, so either this particular bottle is past its prime or it got infected. oh well!

 

 

 

 

330 ML poured into a CCB snifter

A-- Poured a hazy, orange amber color. Big, fluffy off white head. got to two fingers in height before dropping off into film. Good lively carbonation and retention. No lacing.

S-- Lemon. Lots of lemon. Lemon peel, lemon grass, and other bright, lively citrus. Get touches of funk to this so thinking Brett right off the bat. Small malt backbone that gives a sort of banana ester to this. Odd beer.

T-- It is malty. That is for sure. Good amount of caramelised pineapple before that gets eaten up by more lemon. Still touches of funk in the taste. Some decent bitterness to this.

M-- Highly carbonated, creamy at times, and a lot of lemon funk. Somewhat soapy at times. Dry lemon finish. Different. Alcohol builds in the feel.

O-- So is this a Brett IPA or a Brett Strong Pale Ale. interesting beer either way. Not sure I would revisit anytime soon though. A lot more alcohol than what it leads to be.

Hazy orange colour with a big, fluffy, light tan head. Good head retention.

Bright, fruity aroma with lots of tropical notes and pineapple. I wonder if there isn't a bit of Brett C that has snuck in here too.

More tropical fruit and pineapple with some nice hop notes and more of the ester profile described earlier.

Medium-light body with moderately-high carbonation. Okay.

This is very, very fruity and not particularly bitter. As noted earlier this seems to have been tainted by Brett. Somewhat disappointing although still perfectly delicious.

A - A careful pour yields a cloudy amber liquid with three fingers of pillowy off-white head. This falls to a rocky cap the depth of a finger. Can't see much carbonation due to the opaque nature of the beer (my fault for not giving it time to settle after delivery).

S - Big farmyard hit, caramel, orange, ripe banana, clove/anise and other spices, piney hops buried right at the back.

T - Iniital flavour is all light fruit before being brushed aside in the middle by caramel. Finally hop profile becomes much more prominent in the finish. Piney/herbal appear right at the end and linger with tobacco in a lasting aftertaste.

M - Light body with appropriately soft carbonation. Mouthfeel becomes more creamy in the middle of the drink as the bubbles subside.

D - A solid effort. Nice use of punchier hops in an otherwise Belgian-style affair.

From a 11.2oz stubby brown bottle into a cervoise. The brew appears a clouded amber with some orange to yellow hints around the edges. 3 fingers worth of off-white froth sit atop the brew. This particular bottle was filled very full, almost touching the cap and when I pried it off, it started to slowly gush. A constant stream of bubbles maintains a finger of froth atop the brew that is composed of rather large bubbles.

The smell of this brew is quite rindy with hints of orange peel and grapefruit zest. A bit of herbal hops, sulfur and cheese are evident with a light mineral inclusion. A swirl of the glass really exaggerates the notes of cheese and sulfur. The 7+% abv hits the nose with a touch of solvent tingle. As the brew warms up, some of the cheesy notes, minerals and sulfur give way to more fruity and herbal notes of hops.

The tastes is bitter and rindy with almost an oily feel of the hops that boasts a resinous cling of herbs and bitter fruit zest like grapefruit and pine. Underneath the taste of the hops is a toasty grain inclusion that does not provide any sweetness. This is quite a one-sided brew with the focus being primarily on the hops and a bit of solvent alcohol.

This is a medium to light bodied brew with a lively level of carbonation that is fizzy in the mouth. The 7.8% abv is not hiding at all in this. Overall not a bad brew but it could use a little re-working as the focus of sulfur, cheese and minerals wasn't all that enjoyable. It is worth a try if you get the chance but not something I would seek out again unless I knew it was super fresh.

 

Bottle into Westvleteren goblet in me friend's gaff in Ghent, Belgium. Reviewed live.

A: One to two finger head of relatively little cream, good thickness, and good retention. Hazy gold colour.

Sm: Fruit esters, malt, and slight cream. Great subtlety, but me broken nose can't quite place distinct notes.

T: Brilliant fruit esters - light, but not dark. Some amber hops. Wonderful cream. I love it. Some slight bittering hops towards the climax. Wonderfully balanced and built. Glorious. Yeast adds nutrient brilliance to the body and climax. A satisfying finish.

Mf: Nice cream, brilliant texture complementing the body well, wet and near perfectly coarse.

Dr: Amazing drinkability for the ABV, very good quality, and excellent pricing. Give her a spin, lads.

Poured from the bottle into a Chimay glass.

Picked this up because of the funky label and I have heard a bunch of good things about alvinne beers but only tried a couple during a hazy beer festival. Plus I saw this was a struise collab and had to pick it up.

Appearance - burnt orange or dark amber, little bit of head that went away fast, not much lacing, some particle and yeast action going on

Smell - hoppy, grapefruits, wet grass

Taste - woah, locked down my mouth on first sip, very citrusy and bitter, but in a good way, adjusted to the bitterness pretty quickly, mouthfeel was mid-heavy, lots of grapefruits , some yeast, maybe an aftertaste of raisins?

Overall this is really great beer and one that I will be sure to stock up on in the future!! Very rare to find a belgian beer of this style

3 year old IPA? We're doing it anyway. Provided by Alex and split with Beejay and Gerrit of Pipeworks.

A - It pours a glowing and near-opaque hue of orange, and is capped with a decent white head.

S - The nose is very very bitter, even after all this time. There is also a slight Brettanomyces infection which serves to sharpen the bitterness and obscure any malt or sweetness. The hop is no longer sharply dynamic (perhaps it never was, but that was back in 2008!) but generally piney and citric-pithy notes are prevalent, along with some medicinal aroma.

T - The taste is intensely bitter, and has a mouth drying finish. I'd imagine it is quite literally like chewing on a white grapefruit rind or eating concentrated juniper, in terms of the bitterness bordering on torturous. The base malt is no where to be found, flavor-wise; it is just unmitigated bitterness ever-so-slightly tempered by the band-aid notes of the Brett.

M - IPA.

O - Surprisingly functional as an IPA after 3 years. This beer is not so much good as it is very interesting, from a sensory standpoint, as well as a technical one.

33 cl bottel @ kulminator
Pours clear and sparkling amber with a huge, rocky, off-white head, lasting with good lacing.
Aroma is average malt (bread, lightly toasted grain, straw), heavy hops (flowers, pine, citrus), average yeast (sweat) with notes of sour apple.
Medium bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.
Not bad, but not my favorite beer !

I got this at the Struise store in Oostvleteren, Urbain mentioning that it was an American/Belgian IPA collaboration. When poured this is turgid orange, nearly opaque which is odd for such a light colored beer! Very very translucent.

It has a bit of a "Belgian" aroma to it, Belgian yeast or something, maybe a hint of more American IPA smell beneath but really this leans toward its Belgian roots. In taste this is really unlike either type of IPA, maybe more of a hopped Belgian Pale Ale. Some strong yeast character in any case.

A little thicker than most IPAs, which seems to make sense from the opaqueness of the liquid. One's probably enough.

The bottle reads that this is an American Ipa?!
Pours with a crazy four finger head.
Med thin body, very crisp, insanely rabid carbonation.
Strong earthy yeast note upfront with a hint of caramel.
Bitter grapefruit notes throughout with a heavy pine hop note.
Finish with a strong lingering bitterness and dry mouth feel.

Overall not an American Ipa by any means which is how I am reviewing it, given the description on the bottle.
I do believe the category listed is probably more fitting and would have received a better score.

thanks to mikesgroove for this one.

poured slooowwwllly from the bottle semi-transparent honeyed yellow to a sun king shaped pint glass with a huge, frothy, small bubbled white head leaving a ton of lace.

& btw the bubbles don't stop...

aroma of lemon, citrus and belgian yeast.

fairly refreshing, a bit of an unexpected tangy bite upon the first sip. yeast and citrus are forward followed by a slight hint of banana and bread.

ultra carbonated, to the point of distraction. thin and a bit bitter on the tongue for the style.

drinkable enough i suppose.

Received as an extra from mikesgroove. Thanks.

Super sudsy outta the gate. I almost feel like a rookie pouring this thing, but prior reviews soften the ego blow of this pour. Kind of annoying. I want to drink, not stare, at this beer. Average color for a pale. Nice caramel, amber color. Smell is virtually non-existent with soft citrus and not much else. Chunky head and plenty of lacing. Taste follows the scent, revealing little more than a hint of distant banana and a mellow hop sting on the finish.

This beer is slightly underwhelming. Kind of like a good-looking girl that doesn't have much to offer to the convo...pleasant enough but I'm all set.