It is good to have a day like this to remind beer fans that they should probably have at least one Orval a year. Heck, get two and start the celebrations early.
Guess What Tomorrow Is?
Orval 2020
Consider this your one-week warning to stock up on Orval because…
…this should be a beer that all beer geeks have at least once a year and the 21st is as good a date as any.
O-Day
Going from a full month of Flagship beers to just one single day for the world classic of Orval. I’m glad that at least this day is around to remind me (and you) to drink this damn fine beer. Make sure you get one today, should be $6.00 or so but well worth it.
Maybe, like star signs, each month should have a beer like Orval as the totem for that month. And make Saison Dupont the one for February.
Orval Day…
…is coming and I suggest you buy a bottle to celebrate earlier rather than later.
Last March, I went a’lookin’ for a bottle to pop open on the appointed day and found empty shelves at my local and at two BevMo’s.
Orval is such a fun beer and one that I should have more than once a year and you should too.
Orval Day 2017
Tomorrow is the day to reacquaint yourself with the fabulous Orval beer.
National Orval Day will benefit not only the drinker but also a portion of the proceeds from the day will be donated to MAP International, a global health organization that provides life-saving medicines to people living in poverty.
Here in Los Angeles, Little Bear will be participating in the festivities.
A Book & A Beer – All That Man Is
Well, NOT All that Man Is might have been a better title for the book of short stories that are thinly connected by author David Szalay.
There are nine men met in this novel, all white European men, most of privilege, or at least set in privileged striving. None of the nine appealed to me. At best they are sad sack navel gazers like the teenagers on holiday in Germany or the pedantic scholar driving to Poland. At worst they are unaware and quite nearly evil industrialist or muckracking journalist. That is fine. Plenty of novels with unworthy narrators out there but I just could not dive into any of the stories. The Men in each effectively blocked me from enjoyment.
That added to the overall downer quotient of the book wore on me and seemed rather invented. All the portent and doom and gloom seemed obvious to me but profound to the characters in the book. Said Russian industrialist who has to sell off his yacht, named the Europa. Oh, is he selling the concept of the men of Europe? Seemed heavy handed to me. As was the early inner mindset of another character who tells himself early on in his tale, that “Life is not a Joke.” Fine to use that, but that character hadn’t even earned it yet.
The final story at least had some earned pathos to it as an elderly man tries to ponder an inscription seen in a nearby abbey: “Amemus eterna et non peritura.” Let us love what is eternal and not what is transient. It is a slog to get to that point though.
To drink, I would start with Orval. It is old and weathered like the older characters in the book and is a classic European pale ale.
Then I would move onto a Berliner Weisse. You probably have a local that does a good rendition. The Bruery had Hottenroth which is transitioning to Frederick H. or you could go with the more accessible Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse.
And since a Russian is one of the characters and since it is January, a Russian Imperial Stout would be good. Old Rasputin would work or one of the Stone variants.
As a last suggestion, since the characters in the book are all over the map, you could find out which country is the setting for the next story and pick up a beer from that locale indicative of their craft beer scene.
New (and Old) Belgium in 2016
I recently sipped my way through the very red and very good Transatlantique Kriek from New Belgium. It was the first re-collaboration with original Belgian brewers for the Lips of Faith series. There are three more coming our way in 2016 to look for with the cool twist being that you could pick up 4-packs.
Hof ten Dormaal Golden Ale
“Hof ten Dormaal debuted this April in 12-oz four-packs, marking a packaging first for Lips of Faith beers, which were formerly found only in bombers and on draft. This beer is a collaboration with the Jannsens family, which runs Hof ten Dormaal in Tildonk, Belgium, pairing Old World ingredients with new world innovation. The Jannsens provided their Belgium yeast strain, giving delicate pear, banana and clove notes to the beer. Spelt, malted sunflower seeds, and wild carrot herbs provide a nutty, bready and grassy wash. Add in Saaz and Mosaic hops and you have spicy, tropical accents and a taste of the Belgian countryside in every sip.”
De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale
“De Koninck Flowering Citrus Ale, a collaboration with Antwerp, Belgium’s historic De Koninck Brewery, will release this summer. This beer will offer a pop of key lime and lemons. The fragrance of hibiscus, rose petals and strawberry-tinged Mistral hops will make it the ideal beer for soaking in summer days.”
Anne-Françoise Spiced Dark Strong Ale
“The final beer in this Belgian-collaboration series is a spiced dark strong ale. Deep into Belgium’s Forêt d’Orval two brave brewmasters—Orval’s first female brewmaster Anne-Françoise Pypaert and New Belgium’s Peter Bouckaert—crafted Spiced Dark Strong Ale. They brought spruce tips and medium-toasted American oak to this brooding chocolaty beer, and then wove deeply herbal French Sprisselspalt and spicy Liberty and Willamette hops into the mix. A dash of grains of paradise offers a beam of citrusy light.”
National Orval Day
Now this is more like it. Annual beer days should be for Hall of Fame beers. Not a style or a beer that is just released but beers that we should drink more of. I am thinking of Saison Dupont as one example but another is Orval and finally, in 2016, there will be the Inaugural National Orval Day and it is tomorrow!
Orval is an iconic Belgian Ale under the Trappist nom de guerre. It falls under the pale category but with brettanomyces and dry hopping. You can usually find it in better beer stores for $6-$7 bucks for a smaller bottle and if you just drink it once a year, start making it a habit and do it tomorrow.