orval

Breweries usually have a whole range of different beers in their range. Every taste wants to be catered for, the brewers want to express themselves and try out their creativity in experimental beers. Not so at the Belgian Brasserie d’Orval. The monks of the abbey concentrate their knowledge and skills on brewing a single beer: Orval. The Belgian beer is one of the few beers that can bear the “Trappist beer” seal and is a delicately composed beer specialty. It is double fermented and dry hopped between the two fermentation processes. The result is a hoppy beer that is exceptionally dry and truly delicious.

Orval flows into the glass in a copper-red chestnut brown and forms a fine-pored head of foam. An exciting potpourri of different flavors rises from the beige, creamy foam. The dry smell of leather meets dark molasses, ripe stone fruits, some fruit acid, strong yeast and a hint of hops on the nose. The initial taste reveals a medium body and lively carbon dioxide. Orval initially appears pleasantly sweet on the tongue. A nice dryness complements the sweetness and forms a great base for the cornucopia of aromas of yeast, ripe fruit, floral yeast and spice.

What’s particularly exciting is the aftertaste, which stays on the tongue for a long time and presents a variation of great flavors in several phases.