Orval

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Large white fluffy head. Dark orange body with a wonderful citrus aroma. Excellent body with a medium to lively carbonation. Light hints of peach and citrus on the body.

Appearance >>an amber color for the body with a lot carbonation and a big bubbly head Smell >> fruity aromas Flavor >> The presence of the Belgian yeast is huge; Meaty and very citrusy, fruity Mouthfeel > extreme carbonation and very light

Bottle. Pours cloudy orange with a decent sized white fluffy head. Well carbonated. Hops on the nose. Hops, yeast and bitter fruit flavour. Nice bitter finish. This is good stuff.

Ooh my. My first $5, 11.2oz bottle was an October 10th, 2010, consumed on December 6th, 2011 (14 months). It was hands down the best beer I’ve ever had, for many reasons: -Smells like a complex fruity wine -Pours a reddish brown with TONS of fluffy foam -Tastes of fresh fruit, quite a bit of hops, some fruity acidicy, medium-long finish turning slightly bitter in the end. Unlike anything else I’ve tasted. It’s like the first second of an IPA but for 5 seconds, then finishing without the overwhelming bitterness. This is the most well-balanced thing I’ve had, and the head is ridiculous. The second bottle I had was a 20/05/2011 consumed on 8/12/2011 (so, a bit under 7 months old). I can really taste the difference between this and the 14-month old bottle I had before. This one isn’t quite as complex, but has a bit of a metallic flavor. Still very well balanced, but I’d really encourage you to find an older bottle or wait it out, based on what I’ve tasted here. This younger bottle has more acidity and a bit less pillowly carbonation. I’m also getting more fresh dough at the end. Definitely good and very drinkable, but again the older bottle was out of this world whereas this bottle is more similar to other things I’ve had. These go well with a well-aged Sartori Sarvecchio parmasean cheese. This is my favorite beer.

33cl bottle. Cloudy amber with an energetic head. A world of hops in the nose with some malt. Flavour is (again) a world of hops with spicy belgian east and brett. Bitterness picks up in the middle and maintains through to the finish. A wonderful and very distinctive Belgian beer.

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2012 24-01-2012 Rerate for the online mass tasting: First rating was in a bar after a few other beers. This tasting is at home. But again, I can’t figure out why this beer has so many high ratings...First rating was 3.0

Hazy amber, small head. Medium carbonation. Disappointing taste, bitter, some licorice, little bit of dried fruits. Very dry and fairly thin bodied. I expected more from this trappist.

Date: December 2, 2011 Mode: Bottle Source: AV3 Description: Semi-opaque orangish brown pour that was cloudy, a ridiculous amount of head, strong aroma of citrus, yeast, brett, and spice. Taste was somewhat of a let down, citrus, a little bit sour with spice, dry and slight bitter finish, thin bodied. Bottled July 2010 at 6.9%. Finally got around to trying this and was not overly impressed.

Orval pours a dark orange with a delicious creamy white head. On the nose I find caramel, praline, oak and citrus. Seriously aromatic. Toffee apples, oranges, slightly sour, creamy and dry in the mouth. It has pretty decent carbonation and a very pretty bottle. Bravo....