How consistent is Orval?

"Fresh" Orval tastes pretty much the same all of the times I've had it at least for the past five years. Jumping into bottles being aged ... just like most other beers you'll see variances, different changes depending on the batch or even where the beer was stored / cellared.

"Fresh" meaning any Orval that has less one year of age after it arrived in the US.

 

I hope you realize that you are in a very unique situation in Ontario in being able to consistently obtain Orval that is both very fresh and at the same time period.

In the US the majority of beer retailers have product of varying age (and varying storage conditions). For example the OP posted: "The best store around here was where I was able to buy this July 2012 bottle the other day."

Cheers!

 

I've never had two bottles of Orval that tasted the same. Sometimes, my experience is that it tastes like a hard cider. Other times, it has been a medley of funky and bitter. I will have to be on the lookout for and try an orval that is less than a year old as I dont think Ive ever had one that 'young'

 

I have had Orval in Amsterdam and Brussels where I assume it is fairly fresh. The stuff I have had here is different from the stuff I have had in Europe. I bought a case fresh in 2010 and I have one or so a year and each year they are different. The beers I have kept in a cool cellar age better than beers I have purchased off store shelves. So what has happened to the Orval on its journey from Belgium to your table can vary from beer to beer and have a big impact on the flavor. Like the line from the Frankenstein movie: "It's alive!"

 

Did not like it when I first had it in 1981, and did not like it when I had it this year.

 

The last time I had Orval, I purchased two bottles that were over 2 years old. I agree, it wasn't for me. It was more like drinking insanely carbonated mineral water than beer-there was no body left to the beer, other than the carbonation, and almost no flavor I'd associate with beer. If anything, it tasted kind of soapy. I guess I need to find some younger Orval.

 

I agree with this. I had Orval, Petite Orval, and Vielle Orval (regular Orval but cellared onsite in the bottle at least 12 months IIRC, maybe 18 months) at the brewery taproom there (well, just outside the monastery) and it was revelatory. Even the Vielle was younger than we usually get here I'm pretty sure. I like it old, a lot, but I REALLY liked it younger & hoppier.

 

Damn it man, now I need some Orval. It's been way too long!

 

Orval uses an interesting and specific fermentation process. They primary with Sacc, then add Brett in secondary. They then centrifuge to remove all yeast, then re-pitch both Sacc and Brett for bottling. Somewhere I've read about specific strains used at each step and the proportions, but I can't find a link. Will keep looking. For now, from Orval:
http://www.orval.be/en/58/How-Orval-beer-is-made

 

Jeez. Not sure if I'm sorry for or jealous of y'all. Nor Cal usually gets 2 shipments of Orval per year. All of the stuff on the shelf right now is either Jan 4 2015 or Jan 21 2015. I'd love some of that ancient stuff!

 

Never had a bad bottle, but it changes considerably with age.

 

One of the first things I do when I enter a bottle shop it to go to the Orval and check the dates. I do not have the patience to age one out, but looks like I am going to have to, because I can't seem to find any that are older than 8 or 9 months. I picked up one after the BA online tasting and I think it had 6 months on it, and found it to be a solid beer. If I am at WF and there is nothing interesting on tap, I will grab one out of the cooler. Funny this beer shit, some you can't get fresh enough and some you can't find old enough. That confounds my wife.

 

I often have fresh Orval. And even fresh, it's not always the same, off course. But I never had undrinkable, overly sour orval. Sometimes, I like it fresh better,sometimes aged...

 

Interesting that you make that same connection, as Mikkeller brew a so-called tribute beer to Orval called It's Alive! Or at least they used to, then they released Årh Hvad which I think was the same beer (''Årh Hvad'' meant to sound in Danish as ''Orval'' sounds in French, more or less), and then they re-released it again as Hva Såå?! In any case, it's a nice beer. But Orval it is not.

 

It is my understanding that the primary fermentation uses the WLP510 yeast strain and that the bottling yeast is solely Brett Brux.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/ipa-ignorance.362103/page-3#post-4310486

Cheers!

 

If there's one thing Orval is consistent aboot, it is its inconsistency.

 

The first time I had it was at a restaurant and I loved it, that was about 4 years ago. About a year later I ordered a case through my liquor/beer store as they do not normally carry it. I've been slowly drinking them over the past few years as they were not quite how I first enjoyed it, good but not great. I just opened another bottle tonight and it's fantastic! They're bottled on April 24, 2012.