Some say that God blesses Orval beer. Is it God's will? Photos by Charlie
Papazian
You might think that all the fuss over Belgium’s Orval beer might be credited to the fact that it is one of only 6 Trappist Monastery’s to brew beer in Europe. There’s a bit of mystique that can be credited to God’s will and the reverend monks who bless the beer, but that isn’t the real genius behind Orval.
The genius emerges with the use of carefully managed special yeast strains. One is a an strongly attenuating (fully fermenting) strain of English ale yeast during primary (first part) fermentation. Later, carefully cultured Brettanomyces yeast is dosed into the beer during the bottling process. There is no Orval on draft (but there is one exception…more on that later).
At the time of my visit, Orval was kettle boiled with U.S. Yakima Tomahawk and German Hallertauer hops and dry hopped with Styrian Goldings. A wonderful fresh dry hoppy pale ale defines the overall character of Orval for its first three months. Then over time hop character begins to fade and yield to a slowly increasing Brettanomyces character. The Brett character intensifies over a period of a few years (depending on storage conditions) and then even the Brett character fades significantly as observed in our 24-year old tasting.
So many beers yet only one beer. What genius. What mystique. What culture!
Next: A tour of the brewery
Also see:
My Trappist epiphany with Belgium’s Orval ale
Orval Trappist genius in Belgium’s Golden Valley
Comments
Der Frau and I attended the Belgium Grand Prix held at Spa Francorchamps, and we found the diversity of beers there amazing. I think some of the best brews in all of Europa.
At the end of the trip we ended up at Oktoberfest in Munich, and headquartered in the Spatenbrau Tent. Our longest stay was 11 hours of beer, mit brats, chicken, oxen, and even fish on a stick, and more beer in one day. Did I mention the Omp-Pa-Pa bands, singing and and dancing?
With the half an oxen, slowly turning on a gigantic spit, and the hundreds of chickens in the rotisseries, plus the many different wursts, mit kraut, it was a dream come true.
We paid about $7 USD per lite glass mug for the beer, but I hear that now it's up to about $11 USD a mug this year.
Expensive? Ya, but well worth it.
One thing about German beer though. With the strict brewing laws of 1601(?) in effect, the different types of beer are not that different tasting.
Also Austria, the Alsaise, and Switzerland have some pretty fine brews too. Especially those brewed by the monks.
Can't wait to get back, yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
Sorry, I forgot to rave about the mussels in Brussells, mit frites, eaten al fresco, washed down with a few glasses of draught Stella. Heaven on earth, my friends.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there 7 (not 6) Trappist breweries? Achel, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Orval, Rochefort, Chimay, La Trappe (all in Belgium except the latter in Netherlands)?
Cheerz.
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