Orval Day - March 20, 2021

OMG! It’s a Newfie takeover! Don’t recall ever seeing a member from my home province of NS.

 

Found this locally for $4.99 so grabbed a few. It’s still a baby, bottled in September. Fruity funky spicy, beautiful head, love it. Planning to acquire some others as I find them and do some verticals at some point.



Cheers all!

 

Thanks. I’ll see what the date was on my last Orval I had last week. I had s Belgian night! Oh so good!

 

Yep! Mike said Orvall Say on BA and I said alright then!

 

A little more each year.
Cheers!

 

Nice job on the side by side. It's amazing how results like that aren't uncommon. There's always the core of the beer there, but then the mood seems to change from bottle to bottle.

Awesome sign, btw!

 

It was the same date....

 

Angela was one of our beer club's most ardent supporters. She and I have shared many an evening of beer tasting etc. Nice to drag her into the BA fold on such an auspicious day!

 

Drinking my first Orval ever and first time participating in one of these beer tasting events on this site. Feels like I'm drinking it in a global size bar!

Paid $6.59. Poured it carefully, but a big head of foam appeared so I thought I poured too fast. Then I looked at the pictures on this thread and I see that's normal. When I read through reviews of this it seems like people have a hard time describing the flavor as I'm trying to figure it out. I know people rate it high, but truthfully I was a little disappointed. Maybe it was overhyped for me so anticipation was high. Mine was bottled 4/3/2020 so maybe it needs to age. How old do you all think it should be to be?

 

I have a side by side with a 16/12/2015 and a 04/03/2020. The 2015 is a shade darker and has a stronger aroma. The 2020 has much more carbonation on the tongue, however the head on both is similar. The 2020 is in a Chimay glass that has many nucleation points. The 2015 is in an Orval glass with one nucleation point. The glasses are identical in size and shape. I have one more of each to drink over the rest of the night. I will switch glasses for round two and see if the carbonation changes.
I have fond memories of drinking Orval at a tavern located next to a golf driving range. I would usually hit some balls, then have a beer. I would drink beer, then hit some balls when I was practicing for a golf outing because golf outings involve drinking while playing.

 

Hey ! Yup that’s me!! Ever since I saw the pic of that strange man holding up a beer in our local paper introducing the beer club!!!

 

Nothing like golf and beers. Especially when delivered right to your cart! N

 

Dusty old bottle to celebrate spring. A fair amount of oxidation. reads more like dried dates, than canned veggie soup... so that's good. Still enjoyable, but certainly over the hill.

 

Happy Orval Day fellas.

Don’t think I’ve had one since last Orval day, and that first sip always hits me with a lovey bouquet.

About 9 Months old on this one. Still vibrant!

 

Damn, I find myself unprepared. I love Orval but have none to enjoy.

 

Sláinte Orval sots!



Glad this was a group tasting because there's usually something else that gets in the way besides the prodigious foamy head that no amount of careful pouring, at least by me, can avoid. Nice lemony peppery funky smell. Taste has a nice earthy component. I'm much more of an autumn/winter guy than spring/summer but this tastes like an annual renewal.

I've gotta remember to cellar some of these.

 

11/7/2018

Citrus pith, slight bret funk and nicely dried out. Never the same, always great. Cheers!

 

Don’t recall ever trying Orval so I had to hunt it down. Paid $6.99 for this one… bottled on 04/03/20. As mentioned in other reviews, there was plenty of head (not the best pour) and it smells a little like funky, tart apples. Very enjoyable and easy to drink… I grabbed 2 more bottles and will gladly revisit again next Orval Day. Thanks to the BA crew for introducing me to another great beer!

 

Hope the thread stays open till Sunday. Can’t post right now but I to the 2011 bottle in a few.

Enjoy

 

Went to my grocery store and grabbed my first orval. Dated 2/09/20. As I’ve seen with everyone in else the pour just comes with copious amount of head despite a slow pour. Nice funky Brett funk up front on the nose. The malts take over the taste for me with a dry wine finish.

Overall a solid beer, I’m more of a hop forward fan, so not a beer I’ll drink regularly but could be a yearly special day beer.