Beers
Orval is the main brand. It is a 6.9% abv beer. It was first made in 1931, and has a complex and unusual flavor and aroma produced by a unique strain of yeast. 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 apertif", and a "world classic". 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.
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 ageing.
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 café near the monastery.
Read more about this topic: Orval Brewery