I had the pleasure of attending a session last week with famed Brewmaster Jean-Marie Rock of Orval, guest of Steven Pauwels of Boulevard. The session was part of Barley’s Brewhaus’ “Beer School” series of lectures, and a followup to the brewing duo and their primary purpose of coming together: to brew great beer.
As mentioned previously on BeerGenius, Mr. Rock was in town to do a collaboration brew with Mr. Pauwels – an Imperial Pilsner that, by accounts so far, will end up being pretty darn awesome. It will be released as a limited run by Boulevard and will be in Kansas City area liquor stores by mid-January. Probably won’t last long, so I’d grab yours while you can.
Mr. Rock spoke about subjects ranging from the Orval Trappist Brewery to the merits of highly-carbonated beer. A few blurbs:
- The only place in the world to get Orval on draft is the brewery itself.
- When served on draft, Orval is served at 0 degrees Celsius (that’s 32 degrees F for you heretics).
- Much easier to sell bottles of beer than kegs – thus Orval has no desire to keg beer.
- Why create a second brand? They already sell all of the Orval they can make.
- Brett is both fun and difficult to work with.
- “Low-carbonated beer, I am suffering” while trying it.
- Petite-Orval (3.5% ABV as opposed to 6.9%) is brewed for the Monks.
- Jean-Marie Rock drinks Stella.
Of course, ‘brett’ refers to the type of yeast strain used in fermenting the beer. Also, Mr. Rock said that Orval has up to 10g/L of CO2 – quite a difference from most of the other Trappist beers you will try. Hold Orval next to a Chimay White Label, or a Weistephaner, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
We had the pleasure of tasting Orval. I’m not exactly sure how old it was, but Mr. Rock spent some time talking about how the beer changes on a daily basis, and there’s quite a difference between young and old (meaning at least a year or two) Orval. Some people prefer the old, and Mr. Rock prefers the younger Orval. Mr. Rock also says it is quite difficult to find young Orval in the States.
Orval mellows with age, smoothing out some of the sharper notes of ‘champagne bubble’ and ‘sour apple’ that drinkers often encounter in this particular Trappist. It poured a crystal brown with an off-white, structured head. I really enjoyed this Trappist, and the brett character was really quite prominent, highlighting the quality ingredients that have been used since the opening of the current brewery in 1931.
A quick review grants this Trappist Ale a 94/100 for its unique character and quality construction. It’s interesting, balanced, and ages well. And the bottle is quite attractive.
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Boulevard's Harvest Dance Wheat Wine
We also had the opportunity to taste Boulevard’s new addition to their Smokestack Series, the Harvest Dance Wheat Wine. Due to be released in just a few weeks, this is Boulevard’s go at a wheat wine style. Breweries such as Odell, Goose Island, and Terrapin have played with wheat wines in the past, but it is still quite uncommon. I’m sure this iteration will only popularize the style, as I was quite impressed.
I must apologize for the quality of the picture, as the room was quite dark, and I don’t normally lug around a full-frame camera with nine lenses unlike some of my more talented blogging friends. That aside, you can sort of see from the picture that it pours a deep golden color with a slight haze, and a rich, fragrant head. The beer was a pleasantly dry, refined wheat that was reminiscent of a barleywine in style with a drastically different approach.
Unfiltered and rich in body, the wheat wine was well-balanced with a sharp tartness on the rear of the palate. Booze was almost non-evident, which is pretty incredible for just over 9% ABV. Complex flavor combinations such as apricot and clove pleasantly assaulted (if there is such a concept) my palate. Brewmaster Steven Pauwels says Harvest Dance is aged in fresh oak, and then moved to French oak to impart additional complexity. A high carbonation (interesting, after Mr. Rock’s assertion from earlier in the session) completed the package, creating a wonderfully interesting style that I haven’t before had the pleasure of exploring. Absolutely everyone at my table enjoyed this beer immensely – I believe the general public will receive it warmly as well.
A quick evaluation scores this beer a 92/100 for originality of style, and for Boulevard being willing to go out on a limb and give this one a shot. It’s well-done, and I hope will be well-received when released. Mr. Pauwels said that Boulevard’s Smokestack Series has made Boulevard sexy, and they somehow need to continue to be sexy – I would venture that the Harvest Dance will only add to that reputation.
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This was a pleasant session. My fellow blogger over at By The Pint posted his review of the event here with a focus on the Harvest Dance. Check it out, and check out both Orval if you haven’t already, and the Harvest Dance Wheat Wine when it is released in a few weeks.
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I want some Harvest Dance. I think I have had the Goose Island version of this at a bar in Chicago that the Beer Geniuses might like The Hopleaf.
Goose Island has a barrel-aged version, as well as something called Batch 2000. Unfortunately I haven’t had either of them.