Just ask the trout. He will know the answer. After all, he is totally Orval. There are many ways in which this Trappist beer could be labelled ‘unique’. And there are just as many ways to enjoy it. So raise a glass to Murphy’s Law, just one contributor to the strange but true story of Orval.
The oldest is also the youngest
“Let all guests that come be received like Christ, for he will say, "I was a stranger and you took me in."” This is the Benedictine rule, and of course it is observed in Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval where the world-famous beer is brewed. And if Christ is then treated to the amber-coloured, bitter yet fruity Trappist he will feel like the King of Heaven. No other beer embodies harmony (between full-mouthed, rounded and bitter) so well as an Orval does.
Orval is the odd one out of the Trappist beers. Of the six Belgian Trappist beers Orval is the youngest, but amongst the country’s six Trappist abbeys it ranks as the oldest. Moreover, Orval is also the only Belgian Trappist brewery that offers one single beer (not taking into account the Petit Orval (sometimes called Orval Vert)) that is only served at the brewery).
A hotbed in oh so many ways...
The Orval brewery is located within the abbey walls. It was set up in 1931 to help finance the building works that were needed turn the abbey from picturesque ruins into a functioning community. And here we see how the abbey of Orval is governed by more than the Rule of Benedict; Murphy’s Law also comes into play. The first monks to live at Orval arrived from southern Italy in 1070. Less than 200 years later the church and the abbey built by the ‘Italianish’ was destroyed by fire. In the heat of the Thirty Years’ War, in August 1637, the new abbey fell victim to plunder and the buildings were burned down once more. And... wait for it... the re-built abbey was itself burned down on 23 June, 1793. On this occasion, troops under the command of one General Loison (A French commander notorious for his plundering ways) were responsible. May he burn in hell. In 1926 the Harenne family gifted the ruins of Orval and the surrounding grounds to the Order of Cîteaux. (These are the Cistercians. Trappist monks are officially members of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, founded in La Trappe Abbey.) Re-building the abbey was a mammoth task. Dom Marie-Albert van der Cruyssen, a monk at La Trappe originally from Ghent, threw himself into this onerous task. It was Abbot Dom Marie-Albert who had the enlightened idea of brewing beer to fund these works. And the rest is history.
Brewer, know your trade
The idea came from the holy men, but Orval’s unique beer style can be ascribed to German brewmaster, Hans Pappenheimer, who followed in the footsteps of the very first brewer, Jan Van Huele, who gained a lot of his experience in England. At the orders of ‘der Hans’, the beer basins were never completely scrubbed clean so that wild yeasts could procreate.
The importance of the brewery to the abbey grew and grew, and so did the investment in its facilities. From 3,400,000 litres in 1994, production grew to 4,500,000 litres in 2002 and today it approaches 7,500,000 litres. In 2013 Anne-Françoise Pypaert took over as brewmaster – an appointment that is a unique step for a men-only religious order.
We told you that the Orval back story was as full of character as the beer itself, and we’re not disappointing you!
The brewery aims to distribute and sell 85% of its total annual production of around 7,500,000 l as equally as possible across Belgium. That is why they no longer sell their iconic orange beer crates through supermarkets, where thirsty buyers were snapping up large-scale purchases. Create scarcity and thou shalt be rewarded, as St Benedict never said. But with any thoughts of expanding production within the abbey walls completely out of order - pun intended – this beer looks likely to remain in short supply.
It’s all down to Matilda
If your local pub landlord bears the title ‘Orval Ambassador’, he should be held in high esteem. If ‘he’ is a woman then the bar-moeder, or ‘mother of the bar’, as we say in Belgium will be held even closer to your heart . Just as a reminder: in 2019, around the world, there are just 367 people deserving of this title, of whom 273 are in Belgium. You only gain this particular accreditation if your business puts Orval in the spotlight and if you serve this beer with all of the care and attention it merits. It also helps if your cellar contains the odd mature Orval, as there is nothing like a rare vintage to inspire the true Orval aficionado.
So yes, an Orval is really unique. If you wanted any more proof then just take a look at the label. This has remained largely unchanged throughout the brewery’s history. And we haven’t even started talking about the cute bottle, which can only be described as plump, but in a good way.
There must be some facts and figures too. Orval has an alcohol by volume of 6.2%. In Belgium beers with an alcohol volume above 5.5% may legally be within 1% of the printed measure in either direction. In other words, we will never really know, though bottles destined for the US export market leave Belgian shores with a label proudly proclaiming a 6.9% ABV.
One thing is certain: Orval is an Authentic Trappist Product. To sport this label, a product has to meet strict criteria. It must be produced within a Trappist abbey, the community of monks has to be directly involved in managing production, and the revenues, at least the majority of them, have to be spent on charitable works. Enjoy an Orval and you do your bit for charity. But what about the story of the fish and the ring?
Orval is brewed with water drawn from the Matilda well, and down this hole lies the explanation for the Orval label, a pared down design with an enduring visual appeal. Legend has it that the abbey sprang from an aristocrat’s gratitude. The Legend of Orval has been told many times. In it, Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, and Aunt to a certain Godfrey of Bouillon, crusader and keen soup fan, lost her wedding ring in the local spring in its lovely valley. The year was 1076 so Murphy’s Law applied in Orval even in the Middle Ages. Poor Matilda started to wail, and, in the end, turned to the only being that can truly give succour to those in desperate need. Before long, the Lord himself intervened as asked. A trout broke through the surface of the water carrying the precious ring in its mouth. This ‘Flipper’ moment is great in itself, but, wait for it... it gets even better. At this lovely moment, Matilda cried out: “Mais, c’est vraiment un val d’or ici!” A true valley of gold, indeed. Well and truly Orval. The pious Matilda is said to have decreed that an abbey should be erected on the very spot. “Se non è vero, è ben trovato” as the Italian monks who founded the abbey might well have said, because any story that makes Orval’s precious spring water central to its fortunes is telling a sort of truth. Local tradition has it that any young ‘virgin’ who throws a coin into Matilda’s spring will marry within a year. The trout swimming around the well keep their opinion to themselves.
