maniac (11822) reviewed Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle on 04/10/2011 from Once Upon a Vine - North. Slightly hazy orange body with a large foamy white head that clings to the glass. Wild Brett aroma with some caramel and fruit. Dry Brett flavor with some caramel, fruit, and light spicy hops. Medium light body with high carbonation and a very dry finish. 7/3/8/4/16 - 3.8 11/28/2005 - Cloudy dark golden color with a thin white head. light citrus aroma with a sweet grapefruit flavor. 6/4/8/4/15 - 3.7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Bottle at London Gathering Nov 05. Funny. I didn’t particularly like Orval when I first had it, and I didn’t particularly like this either. Perhaps it will grow on me. Copper colour with thick tight beige head. Slightly sour, marmalade aroma. Bit thin in mouth. Overly carbonated and the flavours were all a bit watery
Finn (18112) reviewed Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Easy drinkable. Refreshing. A different spicy taste. Found in Blå Rock Café, Tromsø, Norway - and served in an Orval glass.
oh6gdx (51139) reviewed Orval Vert / Petit Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottled. Hazy orange coloured, mediumsized head. Orange and lemon in aroma along with wheaty hints. Flavour is weaker than normal Orval, kind of "Orval mixed with water".
TBone (30139) reviewed Orval Vert / Petit Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Bottled @Akkurat
Yellow golden, not much head. Citrusy, horse blanket nose - watered Orval aroma. Citrusy, lemony, weak little brother of Orval. Add enough water to normal Orval and you have this one.
Harrisoni (26233) reviewed Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 10
Bottle. Had this a couple of years ago before I joined this site and didn’t think that much of it. So I was a bit prejudiced coming to rate it here. Cloudy orange colour with thin disappearing white head. Aroma is of sour oranges, and caramel and hop. Enticing. Faint rubber tones. Palate again is sour with orange/ tangerine but good and balanced. Finish is citric dry and quite aggresively hoppy with more orange. Anyway this changed my mind about this beer as you can tell from the score I gave it. Funny how your palate alters as you try more and different beers 4.3/5. Re-rate again at 4.5. This just gets better every time.4.6 OK, so this is just such a surprise every time I have it. A September 08 bottle in Feb 09. Best aroma and flavour. Re-rate 18 Jan 2013 Bottle from June 2012. Wow, just the flavour of orange and tangerine, the mouthfeel, the bitterness. I can’t think of a better beer right now. 4.9. Re rate Sept 2015 i have bought more of this than any other beer in the past 2 years and I never ever get bored of it. The bottle from Nov 2014 I had last night was perfect. Hoppy bitter interesting and completely satisfying experience so now a 5/5 Bottle from 05/09/2013, it's amazing, so fresh so delicious. Hoppy pale ale with light brett. Lovely.
CloakedDagger (37227) reviewed Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 10
(Bottle 33 cl) Since Orval tuned up the alcohol with 1% in ’93 or ’94 they unfortunately also started cutting some edges making the beer loose some character and a bit of hoppiness. Still I believe this is an outstanding world classic - although not a beer for everyone. Dark amber with a huge, fluffy head. But the sweet sensation in this is the extremely sophisticated spicing which is truly unique and unlike any other beer. 300493 & 050394
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
(Bottle 33 cl) This younger brother to the real Orval is apparently only available in the café next to the abbey - and only aimed at everyday consumption for the monks. Trying this in a tasting with the original this seems to be just a dilluted Orval. All the same wonderful herbal notes are there - only weaker. And expectedly both head and hoppiness are lower. Hence it’s a surprise that the colour is actually a darker amber than the oroginal. Hmm...so much for my dillution theory. Very easy to drink. Yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. For all it’s worth, even this weak Orval is still a unique experience. No label. 230105
shrubber (15804) reviewed Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Bottle. Orange, apple, and clove malt aroma - very complex. Medium tan color with small but lasting head. Sweet apple flavor initially with a pepper/clove bitter finish. - Somewhat reminiscent of a spiced cider. Pleasant and different. / 5 yr old bottle - a much more subtle beer - light sweetness, just kind of turned into a standard beer. / Bottled on 15/05/2008, consumed 20/12/2017 - Huge horseblanket aroma - still light orange and apple notes. Dry bretty light malt and mildly bitter hay/pepper flavor. Strong Bretty aroma but much more subtle in the flavor - now I'm glad I have 3 more bottles of this vintage. / 22/03/2020 - another 15/05/2008 bottle. Horseblanket a bit less, more candi sugar, apple, orange, clove aroma. Murky brown with no head. Lightly dry apple/citrus, caramel malt. Still nicely drinkable.
MoritzF (10566) reviewed Orval from Brasserie d’Orval 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
(bottle) Orange-brown body with a fluffy lightly tanned head. Very fruity and floral hoppy aroma with some herbal elements. Bitter dry flavour, light to medium bodied. One of my favourite Abbey beers. Initially malty taste with notes of caramel and cinnamon, which turns into a spicy, bitter hoppy & very lasting dry finish. Complex and absolutely well-rounded. A great beer !