<p>Orval is in a category of its own, it's not an amber or a blonde beer, it has a fresh flavor, but it's not a sour or fruit beer either. Generally it falls under the Belgian Pale Ales.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bNvYJ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>Orval has a very traditional and unique brewing process which involves
 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. The beer is then matured at 15°C for a minimum of four weeks on site before being distributed.</p>

<p>If drunk right after bottling it has a "young" fresh flavor. The beer can be preserved for several years as it re-ferments once bottled. Even 35 year old Orval is still drinkable, if preserved at the right temperature. After about 1 year of preservation the beer flavor changes to a softer, sweeter and more intense experience compared to the young one.</p>

<p>There are two versions of Orval, one is the normal one which can be bought in the stores and then there is also a special <em>Petite Orval</em>, which can only be drunk at the Orval abbey and is only produced for the Monks (no mass sale). Its alcohol percentage is a lot lower than the normal Orval. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-22T13:28:35.357Z
2014-01-22T16:06:42.307Z
2014-01-22T16:06:42.307Z
Lucas Kauffman
<p>Orval is brewed primarily with pale malt (with some caramel malt) so it can most reasonably be classified as a Belgian Pale Ale.  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-22T14:53:53.253Z
2014-01-22T14:53:53.253Z
Xander
<p>Orval has a very distinct taste, but I'm not quite sure how I should categorize it? </p>

<trappist>
How do I categorize Orval?
Lucas Kauffman
# How do I categorize Orval?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-22)

Orval has a very distinct taste, but I'm not quite sure how I should categorize it?

**Tags:** trappist


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2014-01-22. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Orval is in a category of its own, it's not an amber or a blonde beer, it has a fresh flavor, but it's not a sour or fruit beer either. Generally it falls under the Belgian Pale Ales.

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bNvYJ.jpg)

Orval has a very traditional and unique brewing process which involves
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. The beer is then matured at 15°C for a minimum of four weeks on site before being distributed.

If drunk right after bottling it has a "young" fresh flavor. The beer can be preserved for several years as it re-ferments once bottled. Even 35 year old Orval is still drinkable, if preserved at the right temperature. After about 1 year of preservation the beer flavor changes to a softer, sweeter and more intense experience compared to the young one.

There are two versions of Orval, one is the normal one which can be bought in the stores and then there is also a special *Petite Orval*, which can only be drunk at the Orval abbey and is only produced for the Monks (no mass sale). Its alcohol percentage is a lot lower than the normal Orval.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2014-01-22. Score: 1

Orval is brewed primarily with pale malt (with some caramel malt) so it can most reasonably be classified as a Belgian Pale Ale.


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