It turns out I have one more beer to talk about that’s appropriate for the holiday season. Just because it’s a Belgian beer named after one of the Three Kings who came visiting on Epiphany day.
Picobrouwerij Alvinne, in the Belgian town of Moen, specializes in Flemish sours and oak-aged ales. Among the many beers in its portfolio are three named for the Wise Men: Balthazar, an ale brewed with ginger, coriander, and cinnamon; Melchior, a spiced ale with mustard seed; and today’s subject, Gaspar, claimed to be “Possibly the hoppiest beer in Belgium,” at the time it was released in the mid 2000’s, although with Belgian brewers catching on to the hop craze, its 115 IBU’s might not be impressive anymore. They pop up somewhat infrequently on these shores, but it does show up in the Glunz Beer catalog.
I put this review in my “Ales from the Cellar” series because I bought this in 2008 and stashed it away. I was seduced by it being a strong Belgian ale (8% abv). But its hoppiness might not be as good as it might have been had I drunk it fresh. So this may not be as the brewer intended it to taste when he put it in the bottle.
The beer pours out a bright yellow at the start, but once it’s in the glass, it turns a dark orange. There’s a lot of stuff floating around in it, whether that’s bits of hop leaf, spices or yeast sediment, I’m not sure from sight. The smell is malty and alcoholic with definite honey, somehow, maybe cinnamon as well. The taste shows more of that honey and light spice. The hops do come in with the aftertaste of the first sip. A citrussy American hop, but with the bitterness entirely aged out.
The last pour is murky, and only with the last sip did I get any taste of dead yeast. Overall the beer is malty with noticeable alcohol, turning just a bit phenolic, but it hung in there over six years. A well-recommended beer for a winter warmer of after dinner.
