A Different Glass of Class: Orval

So its the morning of my birthday... which means time to celebrate! Champagne seemed proper, but common, and I want something special. I'm making it sound like this was decided this morning, but I've actually been aging a specific beer a year for this day. Orval.

Trappist beer...only seven breweries in the world can label their beers as such. Chimay (most well known), Westmalle, Westvleteren (say that three times fast), Achel, La Trappe (a.k.a. Koningshoeven), Rochefort, and the outlier in a group of outliers: Orval. All of the abbeys are located in Belgium, except for La Trappe, which is in the Netherlands. The name Orval is a perversion of Val D'Or, the golden valley, and I couldn't think of a better suiting name for this beer. There's actually a longer myth behind this name, but we'll save that one for my next birthday. Orval is different from the other Trappist breweries. The are no doubles or triples (styles of abbey beers), it comercially produces only one beer. The brewery was first established in 1931 as a means of employing lay people in the abbey's area. Some of these first employees were not monks of the abbey, and had traveled to the region for various reasons. In result, the original recipe incorporated techniques and styles from several different brewing nations. Orval is the only Trappist beer to be dry hopped (English origin), and fermented with the infamous wild yeast, Brettanomyces (Bretts). These both allow the beer to be aged for long periods of time (over ten years if you can save it that long); actually most Trappist beers can be aged for up to about ten years. However the Bretts will manipulate the character of Orval much more than the Saccharomyces (traditional beer yeasts) used in other Trappist beers. Orval devotees usually claim three years as the ideal age. The Brett-effect will not be noticeable until 6 months into the beer's life, and is usually associated with a tart, leather, horse-like flavor (trust me you know what horse-like is when you taste it). I realize this probably sounds horrible, but...I've never really had anybody dislike a Bretts beer. People are usually either just confused by it...or fall in love with it.http://www.straubs.net/images/belgian/orval.jpgWhile not the most proper glass, I poured the beer into champagne flutes. If you can, try and get an Orval glass (resembles a champagne coupe), they're one of my favorites and the design has changed little over the years. The beer filled the flute with a deep, opaque gold, and is topped with a pasty white head, which slowly dissipates. The receding foam leaves a lustrous lace draping the sides of the glass (Belgian lace is the term for this bubble decoration). The beer features a dense, active effervescence, which projects a sweet lemon and floral perfume with an underlying leather note. Taking a sip, flavors of honey biscuits and tart lemons dance around my tongue, partnered with a wet, toasted wood and bitter finish. It features the elegant finesse of a champagne, while still bitter and hearty enough to let you know its a beer. Well worth the price ($6/bottle...eek!) and however much time you allow it to age.