Orval

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

medium cloudy amber, generous head and lacing. Taste begins like Dr. Pepper (soft drink), but quickly succumbs to a wheat bitterness that balances beautifully. A full-bodied trappist ale without the usual caramel malt. Excellent.

Tasted from bottle into nucleated pint glass. Poured a beautiful copper color with billowy off-white head, long-lasting with excellent Belgian lace. Amazingly, there was still a thin but solid layer of bubbles at the end of dinner. Delicate aromas of flowery, earthy hops, rising dough, fresh baked bread, mildly spicy yeast esters. Complex malt-sweetness perfectly balanced by bittering and flavor hops, notes of mild malt, caramel, toast, slight roasted nuts, raisins, plums. Light-medium body, well-rounded, spritzy mouthfeel, above average carbonation. Significant alcohol percentage, but it’s completely undetectable. High yeast attenuation combined with dry-hopping makes for a very sophisticated, bitter-sweet, subtly fruity aftertaste which finishes to complete dryness. An exquisite masterpiece. One of the greatest beers of all time.

33cl bottle. Amber colour with a thick off-white head. Aroma is bready, fruity, citrus and yeasty. Flavour has notes of citrus, as the aroma, but also malty and spicy. The finish is moderate bittery with hints of lemon. Medium carbonation, the body is medium-high and the texture is oily.

Hazy sun-kissed golden pour with a mountainous, pillowy white head and fine cascades of carbonation. Sweet, champagne-like aroma. Slightly phenolic at first, with some white grape and a very dry fruitiness. Also some clove and a modest Belgian yeast aroma. Taste is spicy, but well-balanced. Fruity apple esters melt into a very dry finish. Grassy hop flavor. Perfectly carbonated, very clean finish and very easy to drink. Like a medium-dry wine, it pairs well with just about every food on the planet. Delicious.

Cloudy amber color with a large head which slowly disappeared. Mild hop aroma with some earth notes. Taste is carbonated with a little spice. Maybe some nutmeg. Overall pretty good beer.

pours orangely to the glass. very dry...I mean really dry but there’s a hoppy aroma. I’ve got no words for this. properly good beer

Pours sunset orange with an enormous, fluffy white head. Smells like malts and yeast, sweet and earthy, with a strong hop nose as well. Tastes like citrus, bitter, with a bit of an earthy flavor and some sweetness from the malts. Light-bodied with a smooth texture (partially from the creamy head) and lots of mouth-carbonation, Orval finishes crisp with a hint of citrus and a soft lingering bitterness.

Dark golden colour, almost amber. Malty smell and maybe some sweetness. Rather bitter taste with some fruit. Relatively harsh taste. Good beer with strong bitterness and some fruitiness.