More known for their sour beers, Alvinne also produces a few beer they list simply under ‘ales’. Although I don’t know that you can categorise a three-grain two-hop 12% monster like this as a simple ale.
Often Alvinne’s purpose of these simple ales is to act as a base for adding fruit or barrel aging. Or more often than not both! Let’s call the Pays d’Erpigny a cross between a barley wine and an ABT. It pours pretty still without any agitation, though a more vigorous pour will encourage a little fluffy white head.
The body is thick and malty as you’d expect. The Morpheus yeast is there, though not so prominent thanks to the heavy caramel malt body which gives hints of sweet tropical fruits, like ripe mango.
The alcohol provides a decent kick, though as you progress the beer dries out a lot and finishes with quite a spicy bitterness to compliment the alcohol warmth.
This base beer was put into French Sauternes barrels for 8 months to create the Cuvee d’Erpigny Sauternes – a 12.2% slightly sour-but-sweet delicacy. We’ll make some of these available on the ‘Extra Beers’ section of the website.
Cuvee D'Erpigny is back in 2016 with the Pays D'Erpigny aged in French Sauternes barrels
Once Belgium's strongest beer, this strong amber ale is world-renowned for more than just being an amazing beer.
A big malty American style dry hopped barley wine
De Molen's 3,000th brew was this black barley wine with roasted wheat
A barley wine with smoked malt and three varieties of chillies. Different but delicious!
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
A big malty barley wine given the treatment in Bourbon barrels
A slightly happier version of a classic barley wine, using Cascade and Citra hops
This big barley wine is spiked with Brettanomyces and aged in oak barrels for 18 months
A massive barley wine aged in Bordeaux French oak barrels that were previously home to Swiss red wine
A big barley wine, with the addition of rye and US hops for a spicy hop bitterness
A strong dark ale bridging the gap between barley wine and Belgian quadruple styles
An intriguing dark ale, brewed with spices (ginger, coriander & cardamom)
A Berliner Weisse with 20% rye and 30% wheat malt, aged in oak for 8 months before the addition of raspberries for a further 4 months
A refreshing Grisette style beer, a collaborative brew with Cervesa Guineu from Spain
A big Belgian Quad aged in red wine barrels, then transferred to Sauternes white wine barrels for a further year
Cuvee D'Erpigny is back in 2016 with the Pays D'Erpigny aged in French Sauternes barrels
Cuvee Freddy is Alvinne's take on a Belgian Our Bruin, the Framboos has 20kg fresh raspberries added per 100 litres of beer, than aged in red wine barrels for several months
An interesting beer from Alvinne, and one of Belgium's most bitter beers at 115 IBU
A Berliner Weisse brewed with 20% rye and 30% wheat
A second version of this beer, with a dominant display from the Morpheus yeast supported by Cascade and Chinook hops
A big Imperial Stout, dark fruit, chocolate and a hint of sourness
A Farmhouse Tripel is one of the new offerings from Alvinne, but it isn't exactly traditional
Alvinne's saison is light, crisp, quite funky with a hint of sour thanks to blending a little of the Omega blond sour beer
A little sweet, a little sour, lots of body and complexity
A blonde Sour/American Wild Ale - a great balance of bitter, sweet and sour
This amber sour is one of the base beers Alvinne use to create many of their barrel-aged creations
A dark sour beer of 10.0%. Part of the renowned Alvinne Morpheus Sour Collection
A old style brown ale aged in an oak Foeder where it gains the lactic acidity
A rich and boozy quadrupel, featuring Alvinne's Morpheus house yeast
