Orval

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

I can’t praise this beer enough. Incredibly dry due to bottling with Brettanomyces. Wonderful earthy, citrusy hop aromas combine with the citrus and barnyard yeast notes. The taste is more of the same with the dryness lifting the citrus and bitter hop flavor up off the palate, making this beer refreshing despite the ABV. I would love to taste some of these 3-5 years after bottling.

Excellent strong and lively trapist. The taste of hops blends with the yeast you can see still working a nice combination of bitternes and acidity. Best for finishing a beer tasting. Always ask for an original Orval glass.

Shared bottle courtesy of tarjei. Clear golden with a flufffy, tanned head. Spicy, berries brett aroma. Acidic, light bitter and a hint of sweetness. Heavy carbonation. Medium body. Dry mouth.

Hazy-ish light amber with a generously big, albeit sloppy head. Aroma is strange and curious. A mix of orange peel, sour cherries, zinfindel, and gentle peppery hop. Maybe some lemon juice as well. Taste is not sour at all, to my surprise. Nose smelled kinda sour. Flavor is somewhat fleeting. Medium bodied but with a finish that leaves nothing behind. It all happens so fast. Some pepper, some yeast, some sourness, some caramel. Its all so balanced that nothing really stands out too much. But pretty citrusy. Much too dry of a finish, like a white wine. Not bad in of itself, but not my kinda thing, and certainly not what I expected from such a highly rated brew.

Bottle. With over 2600 ratings you should know this beer by now. If you don’t, best hop in the old car head down to your nearest liquor store and pick one up.....

**100th Rating! Woohoo!** Bottle. My one hundredth review, so I figured I’d grab a beer I’ve always wanted to try. And oh wow! Here’s a beer for ya! Pours hazy with an amazing head. Aroma of spice and flowers. Needs to be said just how wonderful the aroma is. I’ve been whiffing it for a while now and just loving it, but alas it needs to be drank! Has a sour, bitter taste to it. Citrus and some caramel in there. Yeasty, somewhat peppery. The spices here are absolutely wonderful and perfectly blended in...nothing to me sticks out so much, it all just seems perfectly balanced to create this unique flavor. If it had anything that was overly obvious it would be the mostly sour tone that just kinda envelops your tongue...first few sips I was taken back by it, not in a good/bad way I guess, just...more surprised than anything! I wish I was a bit better with words, or could quite place what I’m tasting because it definitely reminds me of so many things, but I can’t quite put them down right now. I’ll update this if it comes to me. All in all, this is one of my absolute favorite beers I’ve had; and I mean ever. A bit prohibitively priced around here (5 bucks a bottle - I’m seeing people say this is the ultimate session beer and I suppose I’d agree in *theory*, but there’s no way in hell I’m buying a bottle of this unless it’s a special occasion, ha!), but otherwise I have nearly nothing bad to say about this beer. World class. 6.9% alcohol (says 6.2% on here, bottle claims 6.9% so I’ll go with that).

Just under a year old. Big bubblegum aroma. Taste is light and refreshing with fruity tang and dull hops. Quite a nice beer. Has qualities of a saison.

Hazy chestnut pour with thick, stubborn beige head. High carbonation. Very complex nose: sour lemon, barnyard, some biscuity malt. Flavors of leather, sour lemon or cherry (complex), a little bit of baking spice (likely from yeast), hay/ straw, dusty - I would to try this beer in a fresher condition. The sour character fades with warmth and the classic Euro hops come out to play in both the flavor and the aroma. Very dry, quite bitter finish. This is one complex beer - have had it twice now and am still trying to get my head around it.