Orval

Onto our next venture into the world of those wonderful, maniacal monks from Belgium. This is another highly rated Belgian beer, this one being a Belgian Pale Ale. This was $5 a bottle, so in two beers we have drank the equivalent of our normal six-pack, price-wise. But it's another on my beer bucket list, and clearly Nathan loves me, so let's see how this rates.

We had an explosion in the kitchen upon opening. There was beer everywhere... including the floor, where our youngest cat was trying to lick it off the floor. Gia is very interested in beer, but she's not of age, so she's not allowed to drink it. This pours a very cloudy copper color, with an overflowing off-white head with beautiful lacing and big, fluffy bubbles. This was also poured into a wineglass, because we're still fancy-pants. It smells of orange, cloves, some banana and bubblegum esters come through, and it smells, well, Belgian. It tastes bready, then the orange, clove, and banana and bubblegum come through. It finishes rather dry, which is fine by me. The aftertaste is fairly earthy, like dry soil. The mouthfeel is highly carbonated, yet smooth like eating a banana.

It's a pretty mild beer, overall. None of the flavors overwhelm. It's a very well-done Belgian pale ale, and it's a lovely contrast to the American take on the style. If you've been reading our blogs, you will remember that I am working to explore Belgian flavors and train my taste buds to enjoy them more this year. This is a beer which won't require too much training. It should also be noted that we drank this and the Trappistes Rochefort 10 at near room temperature, having pulled them out of the  refrigerator about an hour before consuming, to let the flavors and complexities come through. It should also be noted that we're so fancy-pants that we're writing these reviews in our fuzzy pants tonight. Just be glad we don't have the webcam recording this.

4.98/5 caps. I'm feeling arbitrary tonight.

-Jennie


Gia is an interesting cat indeed. Nothing says 'wake up you sorry, pathetic bastard' like her biting my face at 4 in the morning But she's adorable. And when she turns of age, we'll have her help us brew beer. Until then, no beer for the kitten.


Onto the beer. This is a copper/orange color that is cloudy, as previously noted. The nose is interesting. I catch honey, orange, clover, black pepper, some bubble gum, some grains (bready sort of smell), banana, and at times apple. There's different characteristics on the nose per whiff. The taste is interesting as well. It starts out with some hop bitterness, fading quickly into honey, orange, clove and spices, and ends on a earthy, slighter bitter note. Medium mouthfeel, highly carbonated.

This wasn't bad. It's nice to expand my horizons onto world beers that are highly ranked.

4.8/5 caps

-Nathan-