Vaccin 4.0
Picobrouwerij Alvinne

Pours a cloudy, deep mahogany coloration that turns crimson red when held up to the light, with a small, frothy head. Smells of doughy, slightly bready malt, zesty citrus and estery fruit notes, as well as just a hint of coffee and tannic oak. Taste is a good balance of doughy, slightly bready malt, quite dominant, zesty and sour citrus notes of orange, lighter estery fruit notes of tart green apple and redcurrant, as well as some tannic oak and hints of balsamic vinegar and coffee. Finishes with a strong sourness and some zesty orange and tannic oak lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

While there is a nice, underlying complexity to this, with some distinct, tannic oak as well as estery fruit notes and hints of coffee and vinegar, this all seems a little drowned out by the rather dominant, quite zesty and almost mouth-puckering sour citrus notes, that especially don't leave the coffee quite enough room to breathe. While this all seemed to improve a little as this warmed, I still would have wished for a somewhat more nuanced balance, with a bit less citrus and more coffee, which could have formed a better harmony with the tannic, earthy oak here. Overall, this makes for enjoyable, somewhat complex Sour Ale that unfortunately misses out on a lot of potential by overplaying the zesty, sour citrus character in my personal opinion.