orval trappist ale
I have a confession to make – throughout my years of beer-drinking and research, and my general love for all things belgian, I had never tried orval’s trappist ale.
- I think it was the beer’s general accessibility that encouraged me to keep putting it off – it was one of the first trappist ales I ever ran across in stores (aside form the omnipresent chimay line), and I always spotted it when out on beer runs.
- I still didn’t seem to be motivated after my latest trip to belgium, where I noted many a local with an orval goblet in their hands.
- finally, after reading about it’s unique production in brew like a monk (it is dry-hopped and local wild yeasts including brett are added during secondary fermentation), I figured I could put off a tasting no longer.
- I’m glad I finally came to my senses – orval definitely puts out a unique trappist ale. it had a funky nose and rocky head, with clean, earthy, funky flavors.
- in fact, the brew tasted much like a saison, but had a cleaner finish and was infinitely drinkable. I would love to get my hands on a fresh sample, as any dry-hopping aroma was definitely absent from my bottle.
- the bottom of this page describes how the beer changes over time. I wonder if I can line up a 3 bottle, 6 month interval flight?
Tags: brettanomyces, brew like a monk, dry hopping, orval, trappist ale
