Orval

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Bouteille 330 mL (5) - Belle couleur orangée avec une montagne de mousse qui se dissipe peu à peu. Goût d’épices dans un beau corps quelque peu sucré. Bonne amertume en finale. Bière spéciale que je conseille à tout le monde.

Banana, hop, and yeast aromas. Lightly smooth palate with a dry crisp finish. Flavors of bread, yeast, hops, banana, and citrus. Very drinkable beer that would pair well with many different types of food.

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2012 Bottled on 03/02/2011, served in a Westvleteren chalice. Pours clear orange-amber, with a massive foamy off-white head. The nose is over-ripe banana, dried pineapple, fig, nutmeg, fruit cake and more subtle notes of grass and hay. The taste is barnyard, hay, grass, leaf, tart citrus fruit (tangerine, peach, grapefruit, lemon pith), saltiness, brett definitely evident and lingering alcohol warmth, with a bitter-dry finish. Med-full body, mod carbonation and voluptuous mouth-feel. Really nice mouth-puckering tartness to it. Complex, yet still subtle and classy.

Excellent beer to make a beef stew with. I... don’t care much to drink it. Oh well.

Orange/copper and cloudy with a huge head. Nose had yeast, fruit, Brett...cherry pie. Taste had a soft malt character, it was fruity but with a firm bitterness. An old enough bottle to have hips missing/a little oxidation, but young enough to keep the Brett character minimal.

0.33l bottle. Orval pours a semi clear dark orange body with a massive neverending fluffy and beautiful white head leaving big lacings. Fantastic nose with hops, chocolate-like notes, peach, some spices I can’t figure out, citrus and yeast. Tastes are quite similar to the nose, medium bodied silky and smooth body with medium carbonation giving first off hints of alcohol then it glides over in to different parts: first a fruity refreshing flavor before the malt balanced the whole thing, then it ends in a dry, bitter, yeasty and flowerish finish. Beautiful in many ways.

11.2 oz bottle poured into a trappist glass. Pours with a very big, light, and fluffy which is very slow to dissipate; it has a orange-brown color which is hazy/thick in appearance. The aroma was extremely pleasing with hints of sweetness and fruit. The palate was deceptively lighter/thinner than it appears and smells it would be; it has a fresh and sprite feel to it and is dry. The taste was light and lively with hints of fruit (orange), but once again, it is deceptive compared to its aroma and appearance - almost to the point of feeling like I was tricked, but I don’t mind because of the fresh taste with the hints of fruitiness. There is a slight bitter finish and the taste is very dry - almost too dry for me, I feel like I am missing out on some flavor, like it should be there but isn’t. I enjoyed the beer; the dryness was intriguing and an enjoyable change of pace at first, but the novelty wears off with each sip. Definitely worth a try.

Bottle 33cl to trappist glass. Almost blond, lighter than other trappist beers. Moderately hoppy aroma. Beautiful foam, which clears quickly. Initially light taste, but intense dry aftertaste.