Brasserie d’Orval

Brasserie d’Orval stands within the Trappist Abbaye Notre-Dame d’Orval, near the French border in Belgian Luxembourg. The modern brewery was created in 1931 to help finance the enormous reconstruction of the abbey after more than a century in ruins. It employed lay workers from the outset rather than being established as work for the monks.

Its first master brewer was the German-born Martin Pappenheimer, but Orval credits the distinctive beer that emerged to a rather more international collaboration. Pappenheimer worked alongside Belgians Honoré Van Zande and John Vanhuele; Vanhuele had spent many years in England and probably brought back techniques including infusion brewing and dry-hopping. The result was an unusually individual beer whose character depends particularly on hops and yeast — and whose recipe, distinctive bottle, label and glass still reflect its early-1930s origins.

Orval produces one principal beer: a dry, complex, top-fermented pale ale, dry-hopped during maturation and deliberately given Brettanomyces yeast, which contributes to its characteristic slightly tart flavour and allows the beer to continue developing in the bottle. It carries the Authentic Trappist Product label: production takes place under the abbey's supervision, with revenues supporting the monastic community, maintenance of the buildings and social and charitable work.

The trout holding a golden ring recalls the legend of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, whose lost wedding ring was miraculously returned from a spring by a fish. She supposedly declared the place a true “golden valley” — a val d’or — giving Orval both its name and one of Belgian brewing's most distinctive emblems.

The brewery itself is normally closed to visitors apart from limited open days. That has done remarkably little to stop Orval becoming a destination for beer enthusiasts; the abbey, ruins and nearby À l’Ange Gardien provide rather more reason to make the journey than the brewery gates might suggest.

Address: Brasserie d’Orval S.A., Orval 2, 6823 Villers-devant-Orval

Tel: 061 311261