One day a year not enough for Orval

Sometimes a brewery does not have to make a long list of popular beers to be considered among the world’s best. Sometimes, it takes only one. Orval Trappist Ale undoubtedly deserves its high ranking. I’m guessing that too few contemporary craft beer fans regularly appreciate Orval and that’s a shame.

As I sampled five vintages of Orval recently during Orval Day activities at Summit Beer Station in Huntington WV, I was reacquainted with the magical powers of the special brettanomyces yeast, which both protects and develops the beautiful Orval elixir over the course of two or three years. There’s definitely a heavenly hand at work here.

Annually for the past five years, Jeff McKay has been holding Orval Day events at his Summit Beer Station. While he sells Orval year round, on this one special day, he also sells older vintages of Orval to taste against the most recent one. It’s an incredibly wonderful event for any craft beer fan.

The tastes of Orval

The beer begins as an aromatic, dry-hopped masterpiece with solid balancing bitterness. Young Orval has a lightly fruity fresh-hop aroma, bready-citrusy flavors, with quite noticeable bitterness and high carbonation. It finishes dry, with grassy, peppery notes. As the beer ages, the brett yeast bouquet comes to the fore, the fruity taste and bitterness move to the background. The beer develops more complexity with multiple layers of flavor, including notes of acidity, caramel, and funk. More delicate and more intriguing. A work of art.
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It’s a fine looking beer, especially when sitting in its signature chalice. I love poetic way the Belgian beer tourism website describes the beer’s appearance: “Orval is a misty beer, giving off the warm orange glow of the setting sun in spring or autumn, topped off by a luxuriant mousse of cream-coloured froth.” I could not have said it better myself.
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Ancient site inspires a modern beer

The Abbey Notre-Dame d’Orval site near Florenville, Belgium has been occupied periodically by religious orders since the 10th century. Orval Abbey was first established in the 1500s. A very historic site, I believe the abbey buildings have been built and destroyed a couple of times through the centuries. The modern abbey (20th century) buildings are set among ruins of ancient church structures. Age old tales and legends abound. The abbey itself has to be the most spiritual setting for a brewery that I have ever visited. As you wander the grounds, you’re struck by a distinctly peaceful, heavenly feeling. When you taste Orval beer, you find that experience embodied in the ale.

Trappist Ale since 1930s

The Trappist Cistercian monks of Orval Abbey have supervised the making of beer in the same manor since the current version was first brewed in 1931. Today’s modern brewery facility on the monastery grounds was constructed in 2007 and holds an open house only one weekend each year to allow the public to see the Orval brewing process in action (reservations for the 2022 open house are full).

When visiting Orval, while you can’t see the brewery, you can tour a large part of the monastery grounds for a small entry fee. You’ll walk among the ancient ruins and gardens and find a very nice beer museum too. Overall, it’s a great stop for any beer fan visiting Belgian breweries. Boxes of bottled beer are available for purchase at the monastery shop. The shop also sells craft item, cheese, souvenirs, and religious books & literature. While no Orval beer is served to tourists on the abbey property, it is available at the A L’Ange Gardien cafe next door, which is run by the monks. Uniquely at this cafe, you can also purchase a glass of the small-beer version of Orval (4.2% ABV) that the monks make for their own consumption.

Production Process

• Grain Bill: pale malt and a small portion of caramel malt
• Mashing: Infusion mash, constantly stirred.
• Boil: One hour boil with with German and Slovenian hops added for bittering
• Chilling: Wort cooled and liquid candy sugar added
• Primary Fermentation: Uses conical fermentors where Saccharomyces brewers yeast is added and primary fermentation takes 4 to 5 days at between 56° and 66°F
• Secondary Fermentation: Moved to the secondary fermentation tank where special house-culture yeasts are added. The beer matures at 56° for for about three weeks.
• Dry Hopping: Dry hopped with Bavarian Hallertau, Slovenian Styrian Golding and Alsatian Strisselspalt hops in the secondary.
• Packaging: Beer is centrifuged to remove dead yeasts and hop particles in suspension. After clarifying, a dose of liquid sugar and fresh yeasts, including brettanamyces, are added to fuel a refermentation process in the bottle (bottle conditioning). The beer is bottled and then rested at 56° for another three to five weeks while bottle conditioning completes its work making natural carbonation in the bottles.

Purchasing Orval in WV

In West Virginia, better bottle shops and a handful of craft beer bars carry Orval Trappist Ale. Quite distinct from the other Belgian Trappist ales — such as Chimay, Rochefort, and Westmalle — Orval stands as a unique entry in our beer market. There is really nothing else like it. Distributed statewide by North Central Distributors, so if you don’t see Orval at your favorite craft beer outlet, give the distributor a call.

Each Orval bottle label has the Bottled-On date and Best-By date printed on it, so you’ll quickly know the age of an Orval beer. The Belgians say the beer’s flavor begins it’s peak performance at six months, then continues to develop slowly over the next couple of years. Try it yourself and see what you think.