UPDATED: MAY 9, 2021 Aromat alkoholowy, waniliowy, migdałowy, karmelowy, melano, suszone owoce. Barwa ciemno pomarańczowa do czerwonej, zamglona. Piana beżowa, drobno pęcherzykowa umiarkowanej wielkości i podobnie trwała. Smak odzwierciedla aromat, ale jest ostry, alkoholowy i pestkowy. Goryczka głównie alkoholowa, powyżej średniej. Pełnia wysoka, wysycenie średnie, pestkowość i alkohol na finiszu.

UPDATED: OCT 11, 2020 Bottle from Deconinck. Vintage 2018. Hazy dark amber, lasting, very thin, off-white head. Aroma of ripe plum, red grape, raisin, pear, caramel, red apple, wood, almond, amaretto, vanilla, dark honey. Taste has sweet maltiness of raisin, plum & pear, quickly turning bitter thanks to herbal & phenolic hints, some red grape peel but remaining sweet in a caramelly, nutty & honey-like body. Dry, bitter, herbal-earthy hoppy finish, the woody profile subduing the sweetness until only dried fruits remain, a bit tannic like dry grape peels, warming alcohol in the throat (red wine, amaretto) but still almost 'hidden' for this ABV. Medium to full body, oily-syrupy texture, soft carbonation. Very complex & enjoyable late-night sipper.

UPDATED: AUG 10, 2020 Travail magistral de la part des brasseries Alvine et Uiltje pour ce Barley Wine dont le titrage a été augmenté à 15 % par procédé de Eisbock et qui a été infusé à l'Amaretto et vieilli avec des copeaux de chêne. Le résultat est exceptionnel de maîtrise avec un Barley Wine qui conserve ses caractéristiques et sa richesse aromatique sur une base très dense, une intensité remarquable, un alcool vif et chaleureux sans être agressif, aidé en cela par un sucre bien présent mais sans être écœurant et surtout un amaretto permettant d'appuyer l'amertume naturelle de la bière et de contrebalancer alcool et douceur. Le visuel n'est pas son point fort avec un brun trouble sans mousse. L'effervescence est très faible. Le nez est plein, sur l'orange amère, le raisin, le miel, la noisette, le caramel et le chêne. En bouche c'est puissant et racé, sans être agressif avec une très elle texture découverte à l'attaque avec des arômes de poivre qui viennent s'ajouter à ceux découverts au nez. L'amaretto joue un rôle primordial en seconde bouche qui gagne sur l'amertume sur un alcool chaleureux. L’arrière-bouche est à la fois riche et ample. Rien à redire sur le final long et chaleureux. Impressionnant.

UPDATED: AUG 8, 2020 Medium yellow-cream head, stable, fed by fine pearling opaque redbrown beer. Alcohol, fusels, oak and vanilla jumping out of the glass upon opening. Sweet, eggnogg-like nose, I advocaat /I and indeed Amaretto/liqueur. Bitter, bitter wood, maraschino cherries, Angostura, chocolate, liqueur-ganache, decorative cherries. Old cookies warming up. Hot, boozy, chewy, viscous. Mild carbonation. Muffled punch-in-the-mouth. Pretty sweet, and hence really a liqueur version of beer. Iron fist in a velvet glove.

UPDATED: JUL 8, 2020 Amaretto-infused and 'eisbocked' barleywine, the result of a collaboration of one of the most influential new ‘craft’ breweries of Belgium with one of the very best of the Netherlands; 2018 vintage. Medium thick, pale greyish beige, mousy, breaking and dissolving head; hazy bronze-brown robe with warm coppery hue. Quite perfumey, beguiling nose, impressions of indeed amaretto and almond in general, toffee, ground hazelnuts, candied orange, fig compote, whisky, quince jam, brown bread, bitter tree bark, walnut shells. Sweetish onset but nowhere annoyingly sticky, hints of fig, fried apple and raisin, light sourish touch; vinous body, dense hazelnutty and caramelly maltiness with a light toasty-bittering edge. The nutty effect of the malts is accentuated by a sweet-liqueurish amaretto presence, fitting in better than I was expecting, but then this bottle had two years to mature so I guess the different flavour components had the time to ‘intertwine’ with one another. Warming, liqueurish but also brandy-like alcohol in the finish, along with a spicy hop bitter note; the alcohol, though obvious, remains, remarkably gentle for a beer this strong, so have an extra point for that. Quite a complex, well-made barleywine with a certain ‘Belgian’ (yeasty) streak to it, I guess this could be considered Alvinne’s contribution to it, but generally speaking I found as little of Alvinne’s house style in this beer as of Uiltje’s house style. Doesn’t matter: this is a great sipper, period.

UPDATED: OCT 30, 2021
2021-10-15, bottle, vintage 2018, 3 years old, 8-4-8-2-16=38
Ditto, most of the below. Somehow perfumey; the malt is less interesting and deep; some evidence of alcohol. No signs of age.

2020-02-22, bottle, vintage 2018, 8-4-8-2-16=38
Dark amber colour, near brown, with compact beige head. Strong aroma of oak/vanilla, sweet almond, then some malt, fudge. Sweet but not too sticky, good malt depth, like some Barley Wine, with accents of caramel and almond; again, strong oak/vanilla/almond character, and traces of apple seeds; but there is also some chicory-like bitterness (or maybe bitter almond) in the finish, really undesirable, spoiling a bit the experience. Maybe they didn't add true amaretto, they added bitter almond flavour…

UPDATED: JAN 26, 2020 Taster on Weathered. Appearance: hazy ccoppper, tan head. Aroma: caranely, candies, sweet dark fruits. Taste: along the same lines, quite boozy and bitter. Overall: not bad.

UPDATED: NOV 11, 2019 Dark copper, clear, looks very nice. The aroma dominated by caramel. Pleasant

UPDATED: JUL 5, 2019 Ciekawe piwo, niewiele się spotyka red ale na rynku. Ciemno-miedziane, klarowne, bardzo ładnie się prezentuje. Aromat zdominowany przez karmel tak bardzo, że poczułem jakbym wąchał klasyczne polskie IPA. Do tego sporo suszonych owoców- - daktyle, żurawina, rodzynki, jest trochę wanilii z tych płatków. Amaretto, czy też nuty migdałowe niespecjalnie wyczuwalne. Bardzo słodkie, wyklejające, gęste, syropowate. Pierwsze skrzypce karmel, trochę jak takie ciągutki rozpuszczone. Kontrą jest przepotężna goryczka, bardzo orzechowa i interesujący, wytrawny finisz. Trochę UFO, ale w sumie bardzo dobre.

UPDATED: JUN 22, 2019 33cl Bottle @ Saveur-Biere, Fretin, France. Reddish brown colour with a thin tan head. Aroma is malt, caramel, vanilla, oak, slightly boozy. Taste is malt, caramel, toffee, vanilla, oak, boozy, hints of chocolate. Full body, soft carbonation.