Alvinne is one of our favourite breweries. We’ve been visiting Davy and his brother Glen at the brewery for many years, and are happy to finally get some of their beer over to Australia. The first Alvinne beer we’ll feature is Mad Tom.
An English style IPA, it has a crisp malt base with an overdose of grassy, floral hops; and Belgian yeast characteristics in the background.
Very easy drinking, with a light mouthfeel and bitter dry aftertaste, this is a very atypical beer for a Belgian brewery, but most of what the Alvinne boys create is way out of style.
About the brewery: When we first sought out Picobrouwerij Alvinne, it was at a much smaller (4 hectolitre) facility. We’d heard about one of the small Belgian breweries that conducted practical brewing courses for amateur brewers, giving them the theoretical training then putting into practice on their system. Unfortunately the courses were only held in Flemish. We are still waiting for our linguistic skills to improve sufficiently to allow us a start!