the beers of FUTENMA: Orval Trappist Ale

Moving on to the next brewery, Orval monastery. The Monastery was built in 1070 in Vallee D'or (golden valley) and from this it's name is derived. According to legend, a countess promised to build a Monastery on the site if someone could bring her the ring she had lost in the water, A trout brought the ring back to the bank, and so the monastery was built.It is believed that beer has been brewed at the Orval Monastery since it was created.Later, the Monastery had fallen into disrepair, The brewery that stands today was built to help pay for it. The current design of the bottles and the brewery symbol are reminiscent of the 1930's design.

I comes with a nice chalice, the trout seal raised into the bottom of the glass. I can see the art deco influence in the design of the bottle, it is a simple, utilitarian design that is still aesthetically pleasing, the pry cap is even nice.

But enough about all of that, time to crack, nose, head, and drink. A mist comes from the mouth of the bottle when it is opened, a good sign. Not an especially pungent nose from the bottle, it smells dark, but it's hard to tell. When I poured it in, it immediately exploded into head. I'll let it simmer down for a minute before I pour more.

I'm going to start, as this head is not going to go down until it's warm. I have to straight up eat away head to get to the beer. from what I can tell from the head, it a hoppy beer, kind of tastes like Moxie (Its a soda from New England for those of you that don't know, its popular in Maine). The head smells like fluoride. This beer is browned colored, that's about all I can say about it. I suppose you could say it's a dark amber, but just brown seems more accurate. I have finally gotten to the beer, and it does indeed taste like Moxie, which is to say it has a gentian root taste, I suppose it's from whatever verity of hopps they use. According to their site: the beer is infusion brewed, top fermented at 15-23 degrees Celsius, dry hopped for two to three weeks, has new yeast and confectionery sugar added to it, and is re-fermented in the bottle. All of this makes for a very hoppy beer, I'm surprised it is only 6.2% after being re-fermented and all. This is definitely not for the new beer drinker. I probably would have hated this when I first started, keep in mind I had a hard time drinking Sam Addams Boston lager, but I tried (I started off with standards, thanks Dad). I'm going to let this warm up for a bit and see how it changes.

Not really much change, this beer really holds it's temperature. It's kind of turned from gentian root to licorice flavor. I don't think the way I have described this beer has made it sound appealing, but it is a great beer. Orval only makes this one, but they have done well. If you love Moxie, this is a beer for you. If you don't, you may want to shy away from it. I would write more, but there is a serious storms coming in with some serious lightning. This beer has my blurry seal of approval.