Orval Trappist Ale - What God drinks.
There are only six breweries in the world that are allowed to carry the seal that reads “Authentic Trappist Product,” all of which are located at monasteries in Belgium. Of the six, only two are “widely” exported to the United States, Chimay and Orval. On my weekly trip to Binny’s this Friday night, I got lucky and spotted a few bottles of Orval on the shelf. I look for Orval every time I go to Binny’s, and upon having a chance to finally buy a bottle I let out a brief exclamation of joy. I only had $15 dollars to spend, and I knew I would have to spend $6.50 of it on one 12 ounce bottle of beer (or about $1 per ABV percentage point)…but I had a strong feeling that it would be worth it, and that assumption proved out to be true.
Orval is a deep orange colored ale with a thick, creamy head (excuse the poor camera phone picture) that conceals a very subtle, unique bouquet. I had trouble coming up with a good description of the aroma, so I will borrow from a review I read that compared it to ‘old leather.’ Now don’t get me wrong, this beer does not smell (or taste) like an old baseball mitt…I just think that comparison does a good job of explaining the complexity of the ale, a complexity that doesn’t end in your nostrils. The brew first makes friends with your taste buds by presenting itself as crisp and refreshing but quickly morphs into sweet, fruity notes that remind me more of a good hefeweizen than a strong ale. This is because, like good hefeweizen, Orval is unfiltered, unpasteurized and bottle conditioned, meaning it is bottled with the yeast alive and well in the bottle resulting in it’s cloudy appearance. The yeast itself is not fruity tasting, but it’s presence in the bottle means that it is continually feeding on whatever sugars are left in the beer so, much like with wine, the beer can actually benefit from aging, although the relatively low alcohol content in Orval wouldn’t maintain it for much more than a few years in your local wine cellar. After exiting your mouth, the beer finishes dry and with an excellent hoppy bitterness. It is a fairly busy sip of beer. There is a lot going on in your mouth, particularly if you are only accustomed to the piss water brewed by the fine people at Budweiser or Miller.
If you put a gun to my head and made me pick, I would probably rate this as the absolute best beer I have ever had, although my palate and resume is not what I would like it to be after only a few years of beer snobbery. The price alone makes this a somewhat special occasion kind of beer. A celebratory drink. THIS IS NOT A BEER PONG BEER. IF I EVER SEE YOU CHUGGING ORVAL, I AM GOING TO PUNCH YOU IN THE GODDAMNED THROAT. Even if you have the money to buy this en masse, keep a few bottles in the back of your fridge for a night when you want to live above your means and feel like a big shot. I wouldn’t really pair this with a meal, either. Treat it like brandy or scotch. I had a few pieces of dark chocolate with mine after dinner and that was more than enough of a treat. Due to the availability and cost of this hard-to-find ale, I would recommend you sit back and enjoy some quiet time with it. Put on your favorite (vinyl) record, put your feet up and ponder from whence this heavenly nectar has come. Think about the monks who brew this delicious beer. Consider that ALL of the proceeds from it goes to supporting their Abbey and to local charities. Then, the next time you are at some dive bar with Fall Out Boy assaulting your ear drums and Miller Light assaulting your taste buds…think back to the time you sat back and relaxed with a nice big goblet (even if you don’t have a goblet, for the love of God…please pour it into some kind of glass) of dynamic, tasty trappist ale. Ale with a higher purpose.
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January 21st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Added to shopping list
July 15th, 2008 at 2:03 am
[...] drinks.A a mere mortal’s review of one bottle of the heavenly bottled beverage, orval Trappist Alehttp://thedrunkist.com/2008/01/21/orval-trappist-ale-what-god-drinks/more-18OrvalThe Trappist Cistercian monks of orval are pleased to welcome you to their website. … This [...]