JamesD (151), Centreville, Virginia, USA Jun 16, 2008 This rich, orange beer pours with a delightful, billowing head with a very pungent, flowery aroma with hints of nutmeg and a little citrus. The flavor is amazing, fruity, flowery, with enough bitterness to balance out, and a delicious spicy belgian yeast character of nutmeg, cinnamin, and orange peel. I will definitely buy this again.
Straling (9), , Netherlands does not count Aug 28, 2008 Bottle 33cl.
Pours a orange/red colour with a good size head that lasts, this is one of the best looking beers I’ve ever seen.
Very sweet and complex aroma, hard to define exactly what smells are hidden inside.
Also a very complex taste, can make out banana, vanilla and lime, goes down with a nice throat cleaning alcohol sensation.
One of my favorite Trappists. nqualls (185), Tennessee, USA Aug 28, 2008 Bottle. Poured a copper brown color with a creamy foam head. Aroma of citrus and sweet malt. Flavor has same sweet malt and citrus, but with a vanilla hint. Very good. Pompey (20), Longmont, Colorado, USA Aug 26, 2008 It pours an interesting orange hued brown with a durable foam head. It has a unique aroma of grapefruit and a sweet mustiness that’s hard to define – band aids and wet dog come to mind, but in a good way. Dry to austere flavor that is complex with an abundance of grapefruit, vanilla, yeast and funk. Not sweet with a hop bitterness that is ever so well balanced by the other flavors. Many people who have never tried Orval are put off by its unique flavor. I find it addicting. Orval is really in a class by itself. mcox90 (337), Wilton, New Hampshire, USA Aug 22, 2008 11.2 oz bottle. Pours a hazy reddish amber color with a huge white head. Sweet aroma with floral hops being predominate. Palate is thin, dry & well carbonated. Taste was grains with a floral hop background. This was a pretty good brew, but frankly, I don’t see why the average rating is so high. I didn’t think it was all that special. I do have another bottle, which I will let age for a year or so. TheRealBastard (94), New Jersey, USA Aug 21, 2008 Updated: Aug 26, 20082003 vinatage- Even after 5 years of age, it still had plenty of carbonation. An eighth to quarter inch of foamy white head appeared after pouring into my Bastard pint glass. People always talk about Orval being this amazing beer so I finally had to drink one to try it out. I am quite impressed the price tag being so cheap. Taste is tart at first and very dry on the finish. The dryness was hard for me to get used to at first, but half-way through it I hardly noticed it. Aroma is tangy and sweet. The beer is sweet and super DRY, kinda annoying. I’ve had much better, but was not a hugely disapointing beer after all the hype I read about on this site. I recommend this to others, but don’t expect a heavenly beer like some people praise it to be.
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