Not a fan of Orval

Just tried Orval for first time with high hopes. Been drinking a lot of Belgian beers lately: chimay red and blue, la fin du monde, victory's wild devil, new belgium triple, local micro triple and really liked them all. La fin has been my favorite so far.

Anyways Orval has such a reputation that I had to try it. All I get from this beer is medicinal, horsey and hoppy. Had a hard time finishing it. It was bottle 30/12/2009 and good till 30/12/2014. Bought at Loglis in Rockford, Il.

Almost feel guilty writing this considering all the praise I see for this beer.

You might have a had a bad one. I don't get "medicinal" out of it but I have had varying experiences with Orval and Rochefort. Give it another shot and if you don't like it, you don't like it. Try a newer bottle.

Try another store to see if u can get a fresher or better handled bottle.

P.s. I love the wild devil. Popped the cork on it and shot it about 30 feet!

Can't like them all, sometimes beers just don't agree with us.

^ yep!

I have had Orval several times, and it's OK, IMO. It is horsey, hay-like, etc. Not my favorite, by far.

The one that surprised me, and I didn't care for at first, is Saison Dupont. After having it a few times I now crave it!

You are not going to like every beer, and opinions are... well, you know! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

You might have a had a bad one

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Suppose you have to try everything twice

Been buying nice bottle of beer and trying to limit myself to one a week, but after not liking the orval I decided to open my Unibroue Quelque Chose that I was saving. Definite cherry and spice flavor (clove mostly). Was surprised at the lack of carbonation. I checked out the website and they suggested putting it on the rocks, so I added some ice to the second half of the glass and preferred it that way. Liked it but I'll definitely be moving on to other beers on my list.

Saison Dupont is definitely on the list

Bugaboo said:

Suppose you have to try everything twice

.... I decided to open my Unibroue Quelque Chose ....

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Quelque Chose made me gag I have also heard to serve it warm. Still, it's too close to cherry cough syrup for my palate.

Not my cup-of-tea, for sure!

r2eng said:

Quelque Chose made me gag I have also heard to serve it warm. Still, it's too close to cherry cough syrup for my palate.

Not my cup-of-tea, for sure!

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Girlfriend said exactly the same thing. I'm a big fan of tart cherry, especially new glarus' wisconsin belgian red, so I still find things I like in Quelque Chose. I think the lack of carbonation makes it coat your mouth too much.

Has anyone had Trois Pistoles? I almost got that one instead, but went for the Quelque Chose. Basically interested in all Unibroue beers

Trois Pistoles is excellent! So are most Unibroue Ales. I really like Terrible, too.

You know especially with some of the Belgian styles it's often hard to tell when a beer has gone bad if you're having it for the first time.

I agree that "medicinal" is not a quality common in Orval.

I recently had a Bruton StoneR which is a Belgian Blonde. The first time I had it a couple of months ago, it was delicious with delicate esters that really complemented the malt character.

I bought a bottle a few days ago to go with my lunch at the local Italian deli. It was AWFUL. Lots of hot alcohol and funk. Not funk in a good way, either.

So I have to imagine that the version that I thought was delicious was what the brewery was hoping I'd taste, and the version I got at the deli was because they are shipping it 6000 miles by sea & land, with stopovers in various warehouses.

Definitely will give orval another try. I'll wait till Logli's has a newer set of bottles (even tho I don't think mine was old at a year and three months) or I find it somewhere else.

Thought I'd put a list of beers I'd like to try and maybe you guys can add some to it: (these are just off my head)

Trois Pistoles
Saison Dupont
New Belgian Abbey
Chimay white
any Westvleteren beer I can get
Terrible (since r2eng suggests)
Pliny the Elder
Duvel
3 Philosophers
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
any Rochefort beer
Sam's Utopia
any Augustiner beer (probably have to fly to munich for these)
V-12
Golden Monkey

MeatyPortion said:

You might have a had a bad one. I don't get "medicinal" out of it but I have had varying experiences with Orval and Rochefort. Give it another shot and if you don't like it, you don't like it. Try a newer bottle.

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I get medicinal, and my friend said the same thing. It's one medicine I don't mind taking! By the way, how did your Orval clone turn out?

To OP: I think Belgian beers are really subjective. I pretty much hate all strong dark ales, but I've had some quads that tasted decent. Duvel to me is like pricey malt liquor. I love dubbels, I like tripels, and obviously, I love Orval.

rexbanner said:

I get medicinal, and my friend said the same thing. It's one medicine I don't mind taking! By the way, how did your Orval clone turn out?

To OP: I think Belgian beers are really subjective. I pretty much hate all strong dark ales, but I've had some quads that tasted decent. Duvel to me is like pricey malt liquor. I love dubbels, I like tripels, and obviously, I love Orval.

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It's still aging in the keg; I haven't had room to put it in the kegerator yet but the English mild is almost out so I'd say it's going on tap next week around Wednesday. I'll post how it turns out, with pix.

I'm thinking the horsey character comes from the Brett they add at bottling, not sure about the medicinal character.

Never cared for Orval, Duvel (nearly undrinkable for me), or Achel- don't know if it's the yeast profile or what, but not my favorite. However, any Rochefort (6,8, 10) when I can afford them is a treat, Chimay GR, La Trappe Quad/Isi'dor, Westmalle are always fantastic. Also love Grimbergen Dubbel, but can't find it here.

If you want a great quad, try Victory's V12- top notch.

If you want

Forgot about V-12. That one's added to the list. Anybody had Victory's Golden Monkey?

Brett beers are definitley an acquired taste but LOL at people sayng you got a bad bottle. Dont' spend your money on it again unless its a year or two from now. Your palate will forever change. If you don't like it now, wait a while.

Try the Weinstephaner Krystallweizen, nice and mild.

Bugaboo said:

Forgot about V-12. That one's added to the list. Anybody had Victory's Golden Monkey?

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Didnt care for the V12

boostsr20 said:

Brett beers are definitley an acquired taste but LOL at people sayng you got a bad bottle. Dont' spend your money on it again unless its a year or two from now. Your palate will forever change. If you don't like it now, wait a while.

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I know my palates changing, but I've had Brett before and like it. Definitely will wait a while to get orval again

Try the Weinstephaner Krystallweizen, nice and mild.

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Would love to. Not sure I'd like as much as a normal weisse. I like to yeast left in too much. Nice fresh yeast hefe makes me a happy boy

Bugaboo said:

Forgot about V-12. That one's added to the list. Anybody had Victory's Golden Monkey?

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Golden Monkey was given to me.... I cringed having to finish the 6 I had, it became my "do I have too?" drink beer.

Bugaboo said:

Just tried Orval for first time with high hopes. Been drinking a lot of Belgian beers lately: chimay red and blue, la fin du monde, victory's wild devil, new belgium triple, local micro triple and really liked them all. La fin has been my favorite so far.

Anyways Orval has such a reputation that I had to try it. All I get from this beer is medicinal, horsey and hoppy. Had a hard time finishing it. It was bottle 30/12/2009 and good till 30/12/2014. Bought at Loglis in Rockford, Il.

Almost feel guilty writing this considering all the praise I see for this beer.

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I didn't get a medicinal taste, but I couldn't get past the barnyard.