Friday 30 April 2010

An ode to Orval (again)

In a fit of madness I order 15 bottles of Orval from Beer Merchants but really I can’t wait to embed them in my cellar, introduce them to Thomas Hardy and let them see old friends such as Fuller’s Vintage and Lees Harvest. Like a lot of folk who deal with beer, I’m always being asked what my favourite beer is and I always say it’s not a decision I like to take. I love Adnams Best Bitter, Dogfish Head India Brown Ale, Fuller’s Golden Pride and so on, but at the back of my mind I’m always tempted to say that Orval is my favourite beer in the world. Why? I think it’s a beer that I can come back to time and time again and find something new. I like the skittle shape of the bottle, the simplicity of the design, the fact that it’s not been buggered around with, gained an older or younger sibling (though I’ve had the Petit Orval, two words: hopped water). It’s got a great nose: oily, leathery, pepper and orange, but most of all though I love the taste, the creamy and hoppy mouthfeel, the snappy carbonation,  the sour and citrusy notes vying for attention and the bitter spicy finish. I love it. It works as a stand-alone beer and at the dinner table (I’ve written about that here). It also ages well. What’s not to like? I went to the monastery once (peering over a wall into the grounds the sight of meditating folk put me in mind of a scene from Resnais’ movie Last Year At Marienbad), the brewery was closed so we went straight to the cafe and contemplated the beer. So I’ve got 15 bottles of Orval on the way, can I leave them alone for a while?

8 comments:

  1. I have to say Orval is one of my all time favourites too. It's so delicious and so distinctive.

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  2. I tell you I couldn’t half murder a glass now, with a plate of oyster tempura alongside. That would be heaven.

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  3. I have tried Orval several times and I am still trying to get a handle on it. I was told once that it just gets better with age, so I left a bottle at my parents house in the Limousin region of France in preparation for when Mrs Velkyal and I venture to Europe again, and subconsciously so I wouldn't tuck in to it. Assuming that is next summer, it will have been there a couple of years.

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  4. Velky — it certainly improves with age up to a point, I once had a 15 year old one in a mate’s house and it wasn’t good, it just didn’t have any flavour. But I find that some beers take time to enjoy, it took me ten years to get Cantillon. In the mid 90s I used to put a cube of sugar in the bottle of gueuze I would have on Christmas morning.

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  5. Orval'sill my fave, after all these years, like an old flame. If I remember correctly, Zak did something about laying it down a while back. Might be worth seeking through his posts and seeing how he got on.

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  6. I love Orval. It took me a few bottles to get to like it but now it's an ever-present with bottles spread all over the place at various ages. I love how it's always the same yet always a little bit different, plus it's one of those beers which is just fantastic with almost every food - it's near savoury, peppery, strong enough to handle big flavour, palate cleansing hops and that spritz of sourness.

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  7. I've only had the one bottle so far and I have to confess I didn't get on with it. But posts like this one (and a few more) have convinced me it's probably just a case of my palate not being up to the job. I'll just have to persevere with further Orval-based palate training, obviously :)

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