Orval Trappist

Orval Trappist

Orval is een trappistenbier dat in de abdij Notre-Dame d'Orval in de Belgische provincie Luxemburg wordt gebrouwen. Het bier is een buitenbeentje binnen de familie van de trappistenbieren, en van de Belgische bieren in het algemeen: er is slechts één variant algemeen verkrijgbaar, en deze is een relatief licht bier dat herinnert aan een Engelse ale.

bron: Wikipedia

Orval Trappist

Orval Brewery (French: Brasserie d'Orval) is a Belgian trappist brewery located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval in the Gaume region of Belgium.

The brewery produces two beers, which are marketed as trappist beer, Orval and Petite Orval.

Orval is the main brand. It is a 6.2% abv^[1] beer. It was first made in 1931, and has a complex and unusual flavor and aroma produced by a unique strain of yeast: Brettanomyces lambicus. The beer is light in color, slightly cloudy, and has a large, foamy head. There is a complex aroma of leather, spice, and many other earthy components.

Beer critic Michael Jackson considered Orval to be "a wonderful aperitif", and a "world classic".^[2] Its very distinctive taste is largely attributed to two parts of the brewing process. One of these is the use of dry hopping, in which large meshed bags of hops infuse the beer during the three-week maturation period. The other is the use of Brettanomyces yeast during this same maturation, which are a local wild yeast. Hallertau, Styrian Goldings and French Strisselspalt hops are used.^[3]

Orval beer is bottled exclusively in a distinctive skittle shaped 33 cl bottle. The bottling plant has a capacity of 24,000 bottles per hour. The beer is then matured at 15 °C for a minimum of four weeks on site before being distributed. Beer that will be sold at the Abbey or local cafe is matured for six months. As the beer is bottle conditioned, its flavour can improve over the years with aging.

Petite Orval is a 3.5% abv, beer brewed only for the monks (Patersbier). Although not generally available for sale, it can be purchased in the monastery itself or the café near the monastery.

source: Wikipedia