Orval

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

What can I say that has not already been said about this wonder of a beer: Orval is a beer in constant change: The one I drank yesterday was quite different from the one I drank two weeks ago: Yesterday the hoppy bitterness was pulled into the background in favor of the sour but subtle funky brett tones. The brew-date was almost eighteen months ago. If younger it is more often the attractive hoppy pine-tones that first hits the nose and the mouth. An extremely complex, lively and refreshing beer with a dry and very long tart-bitter aftertaste, that fills your mouth completely.

This beer has an aroma that reminds me of men’s showergel, in a good way and has a sweet taste to it

This is the best smelling beer I have encountered to date. Aroma is a combination of the best American Imperial IPA you have ever smelled and the best Flemish Sour you have ever smelled. It is pure winning. The flavor is incredibly hoppy, and it’s a nice dry, piney hoppiness. Like a really heavily hopped Bohemian Pilsner. There is also a subdued sweet malt presence throughout. The sour brett characteristics come in after the initial hoppy punch. There are sour, funky, farmhousey flavors, lots of orange and even a little grapefruit. This is an incredibly complex beer. The finish is War and Peace long and every bit as complex as the initial flavors of the beer. The very lively, heavily carbonated mouthfeel adds to the complexity and the sheer circumstance of this beer. This is one of the best beers on the planet.

The body is a cloudy orange brown color with a light tan head with very fine bubbles. The head retention is excellent, maintaining substantially throughout the experience. The smell is of oranges, earth, and spicy goodness. This beer is extremely creamy, with well attenuated pale malts, and vaguely soapy hops moving into leathery brett funk (moldy, but in a good way!). Rounding out the end is lingering funk and tannic astringency. The tongue is slightly warmed by alcohol alongside the aftertaste, which sticks around practically forever. I’ve heard Orval derives its complexity from the Brett yeast used at bottling, and it’s no joke. It really does add a new layer to something that might otherwise be ‘just good.’

bottle@bar: there is probably no other beer like Orval, it is hard to compare it to anything else, it is a Belgian Ale made with brett’s, cannot think of any other beers that fit that description, completely different from the other trappists, sweet up front with spice, orange, lemon, yeast, hop, cinnamon, followed by a slightly sour, brett finish, dry, tart, bitter & acidic in the end but no extremes, everything is exceptionally balanced, you either love it or you won’t get what just happened

Bottle at Laundromat. Lovely light pale color, foamy white fingerthick head. Spicy aroma with citrus, honey, cream, sulfur? Dry taste with fruit, apples, citrus, some candy. Good body.

Tämä yksilö on ehtinyt kypsyä vuoden verran pullotuksesta. Orval on väriltään tumman amber ja omaa erittäin runsaan ja valkoisen saippuamaisen vaahdon. Oluen tuoksussa on mausteisuutta, hivaa ja hedelmäisyyttä. Maultaan Orval on mausteinen, hiivainen, hedelmäinen ja hieman katkera. Kuivahko ja suuntuntumaltaan miellyttävä olut.

Bottle 330 ml. Cloudy dark golden pour with a big off white head, of long duration. Aroma of banana and yeast. The taste seems slightly bitter with hints of citrus. The aftertaste is slightly bitter with notes of yeast.