founded 1931 headquarters orval abbey belgium products beer production output 45000 hl website http www.orval.be 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 . contents 1 history 2 beers 3 brewery 4 references 5 external links history edit main article orval abbey evidence of brewing goes back to the earliest days of the monastery . a document written by the abbot in 1628 directly refers to the consumption of beer and wine by the monks . the last of the brewers to be a monk was brother pierre up until the 1793 fire . in 1931 the present day brewery was built employing lay people and intended to provide a source of funds for the monastery reconstruction . it was designed by henry vaes who also designed the distinctive orval beer glass . the first beer was shipped from the brewery on 7 may 1932 and was sold in barrels rather than the bottles of today . orval was the first trappist beer to be sold nationally around belgium . as with other trappist breweries the beer is sold in order to financially support the monastery and some other good causes . all of the profits from the sale of the beer are distributed to charities and for community development around the region . 1 beers edit orval trappist ale bottle with traditional glass orval is the main brand . it is a 6.2 % abv 2 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 . 3 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 . 4 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 caf near the monastery . brewery edit the brewery is normally closed to the public but opens its doors for two days each year . there are presently 32 secular workers . references edit kelly laura . best beers made by trappist monks . foxnews.com . fox news . retrieved 22 march 2016 . oliver garrett 2011 . the oxford companion to beer . oxford university press . p. 797 . michael jackson s beer hunter chastity poverty and a pint . www.beerhunter.com . retrieved 2011 03 25 . villa k. orval brewery in oliver g. ed . the oxford companion to beer oxford university press 2012 pp. 630 631 . external links edit orval website v t e trappist beer trappist breweries achel chimay engelszell la trappe orval rochefort spencer tre fontane westmalle westvleteren zundert others mont des cats mariawald related articles trappists cistercians la trappe abbey wikimedia commons has media related to orval beer . coordinates 49 38 22 n 5 20 55 e 49.63944 n 5.34861 e 49.63944 ; 5.34861 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title orval brewery & oldid 725264764 categories belgian brandstrappist breweries in belgiumbreweries of walloniawalloon cultureorganisations based in luxembourg belgium florenvillehidden categories articles containing french language textcommons category with local link same as on wikidatacoordinates not on wikidatause dmy dates from march 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages catal deutschespa olfran aisitalianomagyarnederlands norsk bokm lnorsk nynorskpolski suomisvenska walonwest vlams edit links this page was last modified on 14 june 2016 at 15 54 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view