26th March is International Orval Day, an event that is celebrated each year. It’s the perfect time to try one for the first time or enjoy one. As most of you know, Orval is a Belgian Trappist beer that is brewed by monks at the Notre Dame d’Orval Monastery. The Monastery dates back to 1070 and the current building was rebuilt in the 1920s and 1930s. It is situated in the Gaume Forest, near to the French / Belgian border. The word Orval translates as “Golden Valley”. This Trappist Monastery is quite unique in the fact that it only brews one Trappist beer – Orval. There aren’t any variations or other types brewed here.

As with other Trappist beers, only natural ingredients are used – namely spring water, two-row malting spring barley, aromatic hops and liquid candy sugar. The skittle-shaped bottle helps the sediment to stay at the bottom, however it can also be drunk and is full of vitamin B. Orval is an amber beer with an ABV of 6.2%. Orval is a popular Trappist beer and is great for aging.

There are only a few Trappist beers brewed around the world, due to the strict laws that have to be adhered to. We sell the following:

  1. Chimay Red
  2. Chimay White
  3. Chimay Blue
  4. Chimay Gold
  5. Chimay 150
  6. Rochefort 6
  7. Rochefort 8
  8. Rochefort 10
  9. Rochefort Triple Extra
  10. Westmalle Dubbel
  11. Westmalle Tripel
  12. Westmalle Extra
  13. Spencer Trappist
  14. La Trappe Dubbel
  15. La Trappe Blond
  16. La Trappe Quadrupel
  17. La Trappe Tripel
  18. La Trappe Witte
  19. La Trappe Puur
  20. Tynt Meadow
  21. Stift Engelszell Gregorius
Orval
Orval Glass
Orval Trappist Beers

Not only can you sample a range of beers from different breweries with this mixed case but you can also try a wide variety of beers styles too. Rodenbach Fruitage and Alexander are both fruit flavoured Belgian beers. Rodenbach Grand Cru is a Flemish sour. Estaminet is a light lager whilst Cornet Oaked is aged in oak barrels.

La Trappe Trappist beers are brewed at Brewery De Koningshoeven and have been brewed under the supervision of Trappist Monks since 1884. It was the first Trappist Monastery in The Netherlands. We stock the La Trappe gift packs all year round as well as the following La Trappe Trappist beers, which are all available individually to buy:

Flemish sours are worth a mention here as we get a few emails from customers saying that their Rodenbach Grand Cru has “gone off” and tastes of vinegar. The Flanders Red-Brown Beer style is much like marmite – you either love it or hate it! This style of beer has a high acidic content so for some tastebuds, this is similar to drinking vinegar. Rodenbach Grand Cru is made from 1/3 young beer and 2/3 beer that has been matured in oak barrels for two years. It has won numerous beer awards.

All of our Belgian beers are available to buy by the bottle, not only does this give you a huge selection of beers to choose from but is perfect if you’ve not tried something before or are buying beers for somebody else. We also stock an array of branded beer glasses so you can fully experience the Belgian way of drinking.

Orval Trappist Belgian Beer