Orval

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

(Bottled) Muddy, dark orange color with a long-lasting, lacy head. The very complex aroma is sour and hoppy with a mixture of apple juice, berries, yeast, perfume and toffee. Fruity and sour, dry flavor with a long, sticky and chalky, aromatic-hoppy, bitter finish. Sourish and very dry, medium-bodied palate with quite high, but soft and foamy carbonation. As the most challenging of the trappists, this one requires sort of growing into. At the first few times it may taste strange and too sour, but after tasting hundreds of other beers - and many, many Orvals - it just keeps getting better. Give this beer the right mood and temperature, and it will really flourish.

Re-rate Each bottle seems distinct. It was even livlier on the palate this time around, with a hint of banana. The head was like a soft serve ice cream cone. Orval is so dry that the flavor just melts right into the finish. To work this magic into 6.9 ABV is divine.

Easily the most unique of the trappist beers. Pours light amber with medium but fizzy head. Aroma is floral and earthy, with notes of peat and pine. The flavor (like a mossy grapefruit) is one of the few that I could pick blind every time. Worth a try, and I can see how some are fanatical about it.

Rerate: I’ve had this a few times now, and find it to be one of the most frustratingly inconsistent beers I’ve ever had. My suspicion is it has to do with improper handling somewhere in the trip from Belgium. Fortunately even a "bad" bottle is quite good. A good bottle is pretty spectacular. Pours a hazy golden tan, thick white foam. Aroma of yeast, pepper, orange rind, and hops - it’s loaded with spice and perfume. Flavor is pepper, orange rind, some cinnamon, pine, and hoppy bitterness. Long, dry, hoppy finish. I love the mouthfeel - it’s absolutely perfect - somewhat fizzy, yet somehow thick and smooth at the same time. You’ll find some heavy cardboard/musty undertones in a bad bottle. If you try this once and don’t like it or suspect you got a bad bottle, you owe it to yourself to try it again.

Bottle from Sam’s Clybourn. Okay, don’t know why I waited so long, but here goes. Pour is a cloudy glowing orange with a foamy head, Chimay glass keeps it going. Nose is tart and fruity with peaches and sweet oranges, Bretty. There are some hop aromas as well, but not overly present. A bit fizzy with some candy flavors on the tongue, tartness and dry toasty flavors from the Brett. Pineapple and citrus as well. Pretty light, except for the caramel. Pretty nice beer with plenty to pull out and spicy. Excellent!

Bottle: Very nice aroma. Flowery, fruity, lots of orange peel, and hops in the nose. Very hazy orange with small sediment. Big off-white head with good retention. Lots of citrus and orange peel. Nice maltiness with a nice hop balance in the finish. Sourness lingers in the background and really blends well with the other flavors. Alcohol is only slightly noticeable in the finish. Leaves a light hop and sour aftertaste.

Distinctively shaped 11.2 oz. bottle, a bottling date (24/04/2007) and best before date (24/04/2012) on the left side of the label, sampled in a Orval wide mouth trappist glass that I received as a gift a few years ago. L: Hazy amber orange with a white head of frothy cream, good retention and a fair amount of ringed lace. A quite attractive start for this Belgian ale. S: Lemons and pears, caramel grainy, floral herbs, touches of earthy mushrooms and juniper berries, a classic nose, so distinctive that one whiff makes it easy to identify, could only come from Brasserie d’Orval. F&T: Moderately light body that has a creamy crispness with an exquisitely lingering dryness. Caramel graininess, tart apples and pears, yeasty earth mustiness, medicinal herbs and woody stems, bitter lemon rinds and dry grassy hops, complex tasting while having a simple, smoothly detectable drinkability. One of my all-time favorite ales, dependable quality and taste, what more can I say, a classic.

On tap in Brugge, Belgium. Medium dark body with a substantial head and good lacing. Spicy notes with a long lasting palate. Good carbonation with a lasting head.

330 ml bottle. Great beer !!!! Just loved it. Nice sweet and fruity aroma. The head was extremly foamy. The taste was spicy a little and a bit fruity. Excellent !!!