Orval

[midlife crisis]

For some reason I find Orval to be the perfect Christmas beer. Not sure why. Goes with fowl, for sure, especially duck or goose. Anyway, this year I dug into the back reaches of the Midlife cellar and found one bottle marked "brewed on 03/09/2008, best before 03/09/2013"; and a second bottle with no brewed on date, but "best before 07 06 2007". Can I really have kept the latter for eleven years? There are various other minor differences between the two labels, including abv of 6.9 and 6.2 per cent, curiously. Cracked the older one first and unfortunately it is tired and past its prime. Very little carbonation and few hops. Still has the distinctive Orval tang mind you. The newer one (about five years old) is just awesome. It has mellowed out a bit, but still has plenty of fire. Lovely complexity.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays all.

[Derek]

I agree, it's light & digestible, cuts the grease and goes well with stuffing.

I finally got my local to order some in, but unfortunately it sold out within a couple of days and I never saw it!

[jrenihan]

I also had an Orval with Christmas dinner, though only about 2 years old. Great beer. I did not care for it the first time I tried it, but once you develop an appreciation for its rather unusual taste, there is nothing else like it.
Ren

[Belgian]

Cracked the older (2002) first and unfortunately it is tired and past its prime. Very little carbonation and few hops. Still has the distinctive Orval tang mind you. The newer one (about five years old) is just awesome. It has mellowed out a bit, but still has plenty of fire. Lovely complexity.

That sounds like a prime candidate for blending two vintages of Orval. The bretty Orval tang is nice in old dusty bottles, as is the sharp dryness of the hops in newer bottles.
-yours truly,
not gary.

[midlife crisis]

^ the five-year-old was just perfect as it was. What I needed, but sadly didn't have on hand, was a bottle from the current release, you are right!