Undressed
Picobrouwerij Alvinne

One of the more interesting bruins I’ve had. Full flavor and mouth feel but would like a little more hop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quick, fizzy, and very dark brown head makes a noisy departure before the bottle reaches the counter, while a crystal clear, deep velvety ruby red beer fills the Houblon Chouffe Flute glass. While there is no lacing, the blood red color is mesmerizing.

The aroma opens with tart cherries and faint barnyard funk. Light oak chips follow with muddled berries. This lacks my expectations of complexity for the style, but warmth brings out nuances of balsamic vinegar.

Tartness takes the tongue through throttled twists, turning the tail to the top. Following the noses lead, cherries and berries give way to balsamic vinegar late in each sip. One might even find basil. The finish is long and sweet with tartness drying it out as it slowly fades.

The full body adds to a syrupy texture as this is almost flat. Alcohol is far more present than anticipated, and there is s mild astringency.

While short of the desired layers of complexity, this is a fine sipping beer. It is well suited for relaxation in the early evening, of a hot, sunny Spring day.

 

 

Maybe I finally figured out how to drink this style: have it with heavy food and heavy bread. Otherwise, an out Bruin owns your taste buds. I like the low-hop character, but the sour requires full-flavored foods.
Alvinne claims to use zero hops in in this, so it's all sour... and Undressed has a sour that never quits.

A quintessential oud brun, leaning well to the tart end of the spectrum

 

 

 

Re-reviewed Sept 09th, 2017

Unique bottle cap info: UFO JUN 2018 LOT: FOE

Original ratings: 3.5 3.75 3.5 3.5 3.5

Look is the same. Smell is nearly identical, perhaps more raspberry and no orange. Sour cherry flavor; tart and acidic. Medium-heavy body; acidic and mouth puckering; sharp and somewhat raspy.

I noticed subtle differences overall. Certainly wild and sour with a strong sour cherry profile overall. The mouthfeel had more oomph. Not bad...

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Bottle cap data (hard to read the first character): UFO JUN 2016 LOT FOE

Cloudy, brownish-orange body; fizzy head (although somewhat lasting yet very thin). Sour orange aroma; plum and grape. The taste mirrors the plum and grape smell; sour and tart; sour cherries. Medium body; smooth and flat.

Interesting, but not overly impressive. It delivers a lot of wild, sour flavors but looks fizzy and feels watery.

 

L: Pours a clear dark brown w/ slight haze, no head, almost imperceptible carbonation.

S: Red licorice going on strawberry twizzler, dried fig and balsamic notes. Something that reminds me of carbonic macerated wine- an uplifted candied red fruit character.

T: Simultaneous rich plum or fig preserve and tart lemon-rhubarb, wild strawberry, malty and tangy. Lingering finish full of caramelized lemon peel and slight hints of toffee.

F: Superfine bubbles that fade quickly which is the only thing I knock here. The acid keeps it going though.

O: I dig it. These beers are always interesting and catch me off guard and keep me thinking. Enjoyed it from start to finish.

 

 

 

11.2 oz. bottle poured into tulip
(July 2018 printed on top of bottle cap)

L: brown ... I mean, it looks exactly brown as you pour; once in the glass, it's a clear, dark amber, almost ruby red, just beautiful; almost no head ... looks about as flat as any brew I've poured, just a bunch of big airy bubbles barely forming a skin

S: salty cranberry sauce ... toasted cranberries; something sour ... cooking cabbage; as we go, the cranberries start showing up again, and they're even a bit sweet; the mix of toasted malt and sour is sharp toward the sour side, but I'll be damned if that malt isn't pronounced enough to push up a hint of chocolate; as it warms, wood, oak wood, maybe even a little pecan and even some BBQ pit smokey wood, though the woody aroma is more undressed, as it were, than charred; sour cabbage again

T: chocolate? what? yes ... a super tart punch up front, pure lemons, then some toasted cranberries, and then just a hint of stout-like chocolate on the finish; puckering sourness up front continues; some parsley/herbs/cilantro in there ... not grassy hops but just earthy herbs or grass grass; vinegar for sure

F: not bad ... despite the flat-looking pour, there's plenty of carbonation in there to help give it a little crispness; it does lose that carbonation quickly with swirling

O: a very fine beer, much more sour than anything else and probably the most sour oud bruin or Flanders red I've tried so far, yet the malt is strong enough to push in something as dark and sweet as chocolate into the mix, even if only briefly ... as it warms, it really opens up and lets more of the woody aromas in; very little sweetness in it, but still good enough that I'd try again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Pours a hazy extremely dark reddish brown (almost mahogany) in color with light to moderate amounts of gentle visible carbonation along the edges of the glass and some moderate garnet red highlights. The beer has a half finger tall fizzy foamy beige head that quickly reduces to a medium sized patch of very thin film and a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate vinous aromas as well as some moderate to strong aromas of vinegar (red wine and/or balsamic) followed by light to moderate aromas of dark fruit (cherries). Hints of wood from barrels.

T: Upfront there is a light to moderate flavor of dark malts. That is quickly followed by moderate to strong flavors of vinegar (red wine + balsamic) with a light to moderate amount of acidity. Then there are some moderate flavors of dark fruit (cherries) and light vinous flavors as well as a light amount of woodiness from the barrels. Light amounts of bitterness that fades away quickly though the tartness/sourness really lingers in this one.

M: Just shy of medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of acidic prickliness.

O: Alcohol is extremely well hidden in this beer but I would hesitate to describe it as easy to drink unless you are a real fan of vinegar-like sours. Interesting with a decent amount of complexity but definitely a slow sipper.

 

Pours out a flat looking brown with barely any bubbles gathering around the edges of the glass. Smells of toasted malts, chocolate, light coffee, berries, earthy yeast. VERY sour and dry. Dusty cocoa , a hint of coffee, raspberry and cherry, oak, musty yeast. Mouthfeel has moderate weight. Almost no carbonation. Really good raw base beer to a blended sour brown.