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 opened in 1931 to help finance the reconstruction of the abbey, which had lain in ruins for more than a century. Its first master brewer was the German-born Martin Pappenheimer, who helped create Orval’s remarkably distinctive beer.

Orval produces one principal beer: a dry, complex, top-fermented pale ale whose character develops through dry hopping, wild yeast and refermentation in the bottle. It carries the Authentic Trappist Product label; production remains under the abbey’s supervision and revenue supports the monastic community, its buildings 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 exclaimed that this was truly a “golden valley”—a val d’or.

The brewery is normally closed to visitors except during occasional open days.

Address: Brasserie d’Orval S.A., Orval 2, 6823 Villers-devant-Orval tel: 061 311261