Orval

Brewed by Brasserie dOrval
Style: Belgian Ale
Florenville - Villers-d.-Orval, Belgium

Thick dirty white foam. Orangish brown in pour. Thins out and gets whiter at the bottom of the glass. Smells spicy and yeasty. Peppery fruit salad. Vinaigrette dressing. Tastes yeasty. Spicy Brett.

11.2oz bottle from Central Market. Pours a hazy dark amber body topped with a billowing, off-white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. Aroma is spices, yeast, some citrus hop and fruity esters. Flavor is spice, yeasty, some light sweetness, a bit earthy and grassy. Mild, lingering hop bitter as well as an earthy under tone. Medium mouthfeel with very active carbonation.

The aroma has a moderate tartness, with a dark raisin-vanilla flavor. Alcohol esters are also present. The golden orange orb body is bubbly throughout, that seems to just never fade, like a million jetisoned yeast reactions in forever suspeneded animation. The head is decadent emerging from over the rim of the glass like the Matterhorn. It fades, but not much. A great looking beer. The flavor is full of barnyard flavors, notably Brettanomyce yeast. There is a great spicyness in citrus hops. The body is medium, the texture is more on the sticky slick side, the carbonation is adequate, with a moderate to heavy degree. The finish long and robust. A real treat.

Good flavor and aroma.. Golden color and light colored head that lasts longer than expected. Expected a little more from this beer considering the hype.

Vertical tasting of a fresh and a relatively old vintage.
The older one bottled on 13/03/2007, the younger is from 08/10/2009.

Appearance: The younger one is a cloudy golden with much more weaker-airy head than the older one has. The older one is more attractive with lively, effervescent look and huge white, cottony froth. The 2007 one’s definitely better in head lacing and retention. While the older vintage is a lot more closer to deep copper but doesn’t seems to hazy or muddy.
Aroma: The 2009 is a lot more intense in the citrusy hop profile with invinting brett-yeasty tartness. The older sample is more mellow on the dry-hoppy profile, but there’s some really nice molded-cheesy yeasty profile with moderate tartness and slight lactic hint, maybe lactobacillus(?).
Flavor: The younger is insanely effervescent - even after 20 minutes of air-conditioning. Barnyardy, earthy bretty notes instantly. Then follows a serious dry hoppy peppery-citrusy tartness. Dry, quenching finish. The older one shows more depth in the bretty, tart, moldy character, but some dry hoppy resins also detectable.
Moutfeel/Palate: Not surprisingly, the younger one is lot more refresing with lively citrusy hop oils, resins, fizzy carbonation and medium body. The 3 year old vintage is a somewhat stickier bodied with smooth texture and soft carbonation.
Overall: First of all: ORVAL is a word-classic beer with no manner of doubt. This a hop-oriented quenching, fizzy, easy-bodied ale, and doesn’t age as well as you’d expect. There is no huge malty, sweet backbone, but the wild-yeast strains could do a very amazing job during the bottle-fermentation.

--> 2007 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall 8/10 4/5 8/10 4/5 17/20 ->> 3.8

--> 2009 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall 9/10 5/5 9/10 4/5 18/20 ->> 4.5

Dark amber, white head - very thick. Aroma of candy, sweetness, and tartness. Palate is very crisp and carbonated with a somewhat spicy taste. The Belgians might be growing on me.

Bottle from Kenny Road Market, poured into Chimay Trappist Glass. Nice hazy orange color with a generous, pillowy off-white head. Aromas are mostly hoppy: citrus zest, spice, yeast, and potpourri. The taste is quite bitter (grapefruit and orange pith) but not unpleasantly so. The yeasts and malts definitely take a backseat to the hops, especially in the finish. Not bad.

really nice, but surprising taste from this one. kind of dry-champagne-like flavor, a little rough in the palate, really good, just not what i thought it was going to be like, I was expecting more of a chimay taste, but this was very dry, maybe too carbonated. i enjoyed it, but compared to other belgians, whether actually belgian or belgian style, i probably wont do it again.