Orval

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

Pours on the lighter side of an amber, slightly red? Aroma is one of the best things about this beer. I would love to get an Orval candle :) Taste is citrousy and yeasty. Hops are not lost in the backround but hit you with a pleasant scent and sufficient bitterness. I love the way this beer really comes to it’s form as it’s warmed. Great beer!

Pours darker than I thought it would - a cloudy, reddish amber with a huge Belgian head. Very strong aroma - wonderfully aromatic - surprising amounts of hops for a Belgian, but balanced by plenty of malts and orange / grapefruit citrus. It’s a bit tart on the nose. Carbonation is strong, biting into your palate right away, giving way to bitter citrus and a very dry finish with plenty of hops. Very good, and certainly refined - would be fantastic after a few years in the cellar. The carbonation is just a bit too strong, and the palate could use a little bit of mellowing. Wonderfully refreshing, though.

Small bit of foam builds in the neck after releasing the cap. Pours a dark burnt orange with a pillow of white head that doesn’t lace much as it recedes speedily. Pungeant perfume spices and hop aromas. A bit of grapefruit and tart citrus. Nicely carbonated and dry enough to give it a good bite. Significantly hoppy and everything lingers. The spice and perfume stay on the tongue while the drying finish makes each sip a complete joy. One of the best and easily the most unique Trappist. After several rerates from bottles anywhere from fresh to nearly 2 years of age, there is no doubt in my mind that Orval is a perfect beer. Never the same, but always spectacular, I find that of my choices of perfection, an Orval that provides a nice Brett sourness is my favorite, but the others are still so enjoyable if it was required to pick a single beer for the rest of my life, the variety available in this beer would make it a simple choice.

I hope nobody minds this placeholder rating for the purposes of the DD Top Ten list. l’ve got a real rating somewhere, and l’ll enter it one of these days, but for now l hope it’s enough to say that this is one of my very favorite beers ever.

Pours an amber color with big, long lasting head. Flavor of dried sour fruit, with a dry finish. Pretty god, I’d say

Nice caramel color with a tall thick beige head. The aroma is slightly sour and tangy, plenty of citrus quality and a bit of pineapple as well. The flavor is mostly malt, with a dry hop bite towards the end. Bready, and doughy, along with a bit of spice. I don’t really notice any sourness, but there is a touch of the earthy brett quality. Nice feeling on the tongue, no stickiness and not overly dry.

Bottle, bottled 2/20/08. Pours a cloudy dark orange with a huge thick light head that leaves nice lacing. Aroma of Belgian yeast, lots of light fruits, light sourness, slight hop bitterness, and spices. Wow, does this smell good! Flavor is equally as complex, perhaps even more so. Spices, Belgian yeast, dark, light and tropical fruits (but not as fruity as aroma), rather malty, vegetables, lemon, and tartness. Closes with a bitter, dry finish. I love Belgian ales and this was a good one! Awesome.

My 500th "official beer"- 11.2 oz. bottle (bottled 6-20-07) poured into trappist glass that bears it’s name- poured a turbid light copper amber, almost an angel like cloud half a cm thick formed for a head and stayed for a LONG TIME and laced, low carbonation- if you’re not attracted by the sight of it, check your pulse. Aroma of yeast, cantelope, sour apples, citrus, bananas- just take a bunch of random fruit and mix in a blender- all very appealing. Hits the mouth with a low-medium body, fruit sensations come through nicely, malt is detectable but still kind of weak for my liking, allspice and slightly hoppy on the backend. Finish is complete and everything is in balance. While it’s not Westy 12 (what is?), it’s one that I enjoy on a regular basis, and so should you!