Sometimes my cellar hoarding works out well. I am quick to put new beer into my personal cellar to age them out for a while. But I really struggle to find appropriate moments when I can justify pulling them out again. A couple years ago I instituted a new rule that I had to take one beer out for every beer I add to the cellar. I can’t say I have followed that rule religiously.

So it is saying something significant when I mention that recently I pulled out an Orval I had been hoarding for a while. And by a while I mean six years. Orval is one of those beer where you can put them down for a few years as they continue to change and evolve. due to the live yeast and bacteria still working in the bottle. In general they develop a more earthy and sweaty character as the Brettomyces does its magic.

I’ve stopped doing beer reviews on Onbeer, but feel like this might be worth the exception.

The beer (poured into an appropriate Orval glass, as it turns out) displays a medium orange hue with a slight haze accompanies by a tight, thick white head which seems to last forever. A very good start.

The aroma beings with a soft spiciness mixing with a light toffee and some fruitiness. It has a rich character to it. I also detect a very distinct layer of earthy Brett that insinuates itself through the whole sniff.

I give it a taste and am not disappointed. The front is a soft, fruity sweetness along with touches of raisin, cherry, some light toffee and honey. The middle brings out a rounded earthiness and a touch of mustiness. The back end offers a well-aged Belgian spiciness, some pepper but mostly a prickliness that sharpens and dries out the finish. Throughout is a moderate mustiness and dank earthiness. I was expecting more of a traditional Brett hit of sweat and horseblanket, but it melds with the other flavours in a sublime fashion. I can’t tell where the Belgian yeast ends and the Brett begins but I can tell they are both there.

From my memory of fresher Orvals, I think it has softened with age, getting more dark fruit and a distinct cellar mustiness that blends in almost perfectly. I adore the subtle complexity in this beer. Every sip is original and every part is perfectly in tune with the whole. I am not sure any other brewery in the world could find a way to create this kind of balance and subtlety six years after making the beer.

Orval truly is a wonder of the beer world. Especially after six years.