The Orval Trappist Brewery has only one beer on the market.

This high-fermentation beer is made using only spring water, malted barley, hops, candy sugar and yeast.

Orval is a shimmering and clear amber ale with a very soft beige-white head that lasts forever and leaves excellent lacing.

The aroma is of a dusty dark cellar, soft sweet grain, bread, berries, plenty of yeast and hops. It is very soft and smooth and medium bodied. Great balance! It is bitter, tart and hoppy but softly so. There is a lemon-lime flavor in there.  The hops are a bit like juniper, earth and grassy hay. Complex taste. Long bone-dry finish. Very refreshing, I love it!

A perfect trappist for aging and see what happens after 2 years or so.

Orval Trappist Info

Orval Abbey was founded in 1070 and became a Cistercian monastery in 1132. Is was destroyed during the French Revolution but started to re-emerge from its ruins in 1926.

Orval is situated between Florenville and Virton in the south of Belgium in what is called the Gaume region.

The Orval brewery was set up in 1931, on the grounds of the abbey itself, in order to provide financial aid for reconstructing a new monastery. These days the monastic community devotes revenue from the sale of its beer under the name "Orval" mainly to social purposes: a Cistercian tradition.

The very particular form of the beer glass and the bottle as well as the design of the labels, beer mats and other materials go back to the early 1930s.

Orval also has the "Petit Orval" or "Green Orval". This beer is kept to be drunk by the monks of the abbey or their guests. The Petit Orval is only 3,5 % in alc vol, but is considered to be one of the best pilseners.