Its an unmistakably Alvinne bottle in the packs again, but those who aren’t fans of the sour, please don’t despair. This is something a little different from Alvinne.
Land van Mortagne is one of the base beers. It is nominally classed as a quadrupel, but pushes some boundaries of a big barley wine. (And is then confused by the use of the crazy Morpheus yeast)
Cuvee de Mortagne is the barrel aged version of the beer, rested in red wine barrels such as Pomerol, St Emilion, Margaux. The really special version of the Cuvee de Mortagne is then added to a different barrel. This beer has spent a further year in Sauternes white wine barrels.
It smells big and sweet, slightly fruity and funky. The flavour is a pretty complex combination of a multitude of things. Initially sweet with plums, raisins, cherries, caramel malt, dark sugar and fortified wine. A little sour acidity grips the sides of the tongue for a short time before the warm, smooth fruit and malt body takes over again.
It finishes reasonable dry, with a long slightly bitter, slightly sour, somewhat sweet aftertaste that hangs on the tongue and in the throat for a good while. Rest, repeat!
A bold, strong dark ale edging toward a quadrupel style beer
by L’Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont
The classic strong dark Trappist ale from the Chimay Trappist Monastery
A Boreft Festival beer from last year, this is a Belgian style quadruple with South American Tonka Beans
De Molen's 'Beautiful & Ruthless' is part quadruple part imperial stout
A delicious bourbon barrel aged quadrupel, made for De Molens Boreft Festival
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
The winter seasonal from Emelisse is an ABT/quadrupel. Each year they add a different ingredient - for 2015 they've added English liquorice
The quadrupel/ABT beer from the newest Trappist Monastery from Austria.
The new addition to the Gulden Draak label - a rich and boozy quadruple
An award winning quad that kick-started the commercial brewing careers of two twin brothers
The crown in the Kasteel beer range is their Cuvee du Chateau
A rich and boozy quadrupel, featuring Alvinne's Morpheus house yeast
by Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven
The top of the tree from Dutch Trappist Monastery La Trappe
by Brasserie Artisinale Millevertus
A big, rich and smooth Belgian quadrupel style, just the thing for a cool night by the fireplace
More like a traditional quadrupel than the Pannepot; brewed for the Dutch market.
One of the best Belgian beers you'll ever taste - so much flavour it's impossible to describe.
Voted Belgium's 'Best Hobby Beer 2011', no in full-blown production
The grandfather of Trappist strong dark ales - does it get any better than this?
The showpiece quadrupel of the St Bernardus Brewery - as close to Westvleteren 12 as you can get without the real thing.
A bigBelgian Quad from one of Belgium's old family breweries - what's not to like!
The newest addition to the beer portfolio from the only active brewery still inside the city walls of Bruges.
The sister-beer to Pannepot, this quadrupel was first made for the Danish market
A dark blond quadrupel that has been aged in both St Emilion wine barrels and Kentucky Bourbon barrels
A delicious dark quadruple aged for three years in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels
A big mouthful of flavour with this fiery quadruple, brewed in the La Trappe Monastery by one of Belgium's leading female brewers.
by Trappistenbrouwerij De Kievit
Th second beer from the second Dutch Trappist Monastery is a rich Belgian quad of 10%
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
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
A cross between a barley wine and an ABT, with the added complexity of Alvinne's Morpheus yeast
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