Orval Trappist Ale

I've had this in my "cellar" for a while now. The label has a "Best Before Date" of 16 11 2005, which would mean it was bottled mid-November 2000, and thus making this sample 2 1/2 years old (yes, I did pass 3rd Grade math class, thank you very much...!).

After chilling it a bit, popped the cap off, and was almost overwhelmed with the aroma. Spicy, fruity, musty, with a bit of that classic "Belgian horseblanket" smell that many fine Belgian-esqe beers have -- yes, I know this, even if I have never actually smelled a horse blanket in person!

Nice thin and even layer of foam on top, with tons and tons of Belgian lace. As an older beer geek may put it, "this beer has good legs". Quaint old-school beer expressions aside, this is a very nice beer -- and I haven't even tasted it yet!

A soothing mellow spiciness at first, followed closely by a nice even-handed malt-and-hop base, with a complexly dry and satisfying finish. "Did you say hops? In a Belgian beer?" Yes, yes I did, and I stand by the statement that the hops (Saaz? Styrian Goldings?) have always been noticeable in this beer, even aged 2+ years. Fruitiness, from both the arcane hops and grain, but mostly from the even more obscure yeast. One thing that isn't as obvious is the alcohol presence. 6.9% ABV never tasted so mild and inviting.

The mouthfeel and the drinkability of this are the only aspects I can't put a "5" for with this beer, only due to the fact that this may be a bit too smooth and mellow for the style, and may have lost some of it's "on the bleeding edge of brewing" character with my rather uneven "cellaring" (i.e. I moved it around a few times, including across town to a new apartment). But this is micro-nit-picking, since no one would object to quaffing this all day and all night long.

I was first introduced to "cellaring" beers about two years ago, when a diehard beer geek and acknowledged Belgian Beer God introduced me to an Orval that was "only 6 or 7 years old" (!), that was nothing if not pure liquid gold in the mouth. While my 2 1/2 year old sample may not be in the same league, there's nothing to say that other bottles can't achieve such greatness.

Fresh or aged, Orval is a classic.
//TB