| Legend has it that one day in the Ardennes in the south of Belgium, Matilda, Duchess of Tuscany, was riding her horse along the riverbank when her ring slipped off and rolled into the river. She prayed desperately for the return of the ring, which had been given to her by her husband shortly before he died in the Crusades, and promised that if she found it, she would build a monastery for the monks who had settled in the area in 1070. At that moment, a trout leapt out of the river with the princess's ring in its mouth.
The princess honoured her promise, and construction of the Abbaye Notre Dame d'Orval soon began. To this day, Orval's logo includes a trout bearing a ring.
Orval is now part of the Cistercian Order of the Most Strict Observance – also known as the Trappists, the most renowned brewers of beer in the world. Although interrupted several times by the destruction and reconstruction of the monastery, records indicate that the Orval monks began brewing very shortly after the monastery was founded. The beer was brewed strong, as it was intended to sustain the monks during Lent, when they don’t eat solid food.
Orval is unique among the Trappist breweries, being the only one to limit itself to one product – although it is a product that defies traditional categorization. The first brewer at Orval was German and gave the beer a strong hop presence. The second brewer was Belgian, but with a knowledge of British brewing techniques. This brewer began dry-hopping the beer – adding hops after it has been brewed – and Orval is still the only dry-hopped Trappist ale. Later brewers added their own flare, but the beer has kept its German-Belgian-British fusion of flavours.
Orval is a distinctive beer made with ingredients unique to the monastery. Barley is sourced from around the world and custom malted to secret specifications. The water comes from the monastery's well and is high in calcium carbonate, which accentuates the beer's hops (whole-leaf Hallertau-Hersbrucker and Styrian Goldings, if you, like me, are geeky enough to want to know such things). The candy sugar used to increase alcoholic strength is made using the traditional method of crystallisation on strings. Different yeast strains are used for each of the three fermentations, which occur at different temperatures. Finally, Brettanomyces, a form of bacteria, is used to accentuate the beer's dryness.
The result is a beer like no other, full of character yet easily palatable – ask anybody knowledgeable about beer to list their 10 favourites and Orval will make each list. But unlike other amazing beers, nobody has been able to make a reasonable imitation of Orval, which is what makes it so special.
Orval pours with a creamy head that forms a rocky peak. This floats atop an interesting brown-orange coloured beer with a cloudy appearance, due to significant yeast sediment. The nose is very powerful – simultaneously fruity, sweet, vinous and floral with hints of juniper.
The flavour starts bitter, although there is sufficient sweetness to provide balance, with a pleasant floral quality. The sweetness then fades and the bitterness evolves further back in the mouth, giving the beer an alcoholic and phenolic finish. As the beer warms, it loses its sweetness and is left incredibly dry with an emerging citric quality. Spices complement the consistent bitterness.
With this many flavours contributing to the complexity, none of them can be overpowering. Instead, each of the flavours is subdued, confident in its own perfection without having to be arrogant. |
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