Drinking Beer: Orval

My favorite ale is the Belgian Trappist Ale Orval. One night in a pub on the North Sea coast I had one after another, though there is some controversy over how many. Since I was drinking them, I will defer to my wife's count, which was eight.

The occasion was meeting another American who also loved Orval. He was so pleased to meet another fan that he kept buying for me until closing, never letting me get a round. Perhaps its Abbey origins causes such devotion.

Though the beers in Holland cost only about a Euro, Orval costs $4-$6 a bottle here in the Northwest. So one every once in a while to remind me of beer-hunting trips on the continent meets my budget nowadays. I'm sure that adding air and hotel costs would make it cheaper to stay home and pay bottle costs 4x-5x higher, but...let's not think that rationally about beer.

The brewery website has a nice round up of the brewing process for this great beer, but it doesn't tell all the secrets. The main secret is known only to God---that is to say, it's the yeast.

In addition to beer, the Abbey also produces cheese.

The beer mats have a picture of the famous fish returning the lost golden ring to the princess. I wonder if you can train a fish to fetch a bottle?