Orval is more than a brewery, more than an abbey, more than a dream. A true mecca for craft beer enthusiasts from all over the world, both the early pioneers traveling in the '80s and the current young beer geeks. A reality unique in the world, producing a single beer that no one has ever managed to reproduce faithfully. In fact, by going to L'Ange Gardien (The Guardian Angel), the café adjacent to the Abbey of Notre Dame d'Orval, you can also taste Petite Orval, the other production of the brewery. But it is the only place in the world where you can experience this taste.
The flagship product of this Trappist brewery, instead, is the one in the pin-shaped bottle, with the fish holding a ring in its mouth on the label. A beer that is always talked about and never enough, defined by many as the best in the world and by others as a staple of the daily diet. By some a masterpiece of freshness, by others still a beer to savor after years of maturation in bottle.
Orval is located in the far south of Belgium, on the border with France and is often the first stop in Walloon territory for us, thirsty, coming from Italy.