The XtraSuitcase

 

There are only seven Trappist breweries in the world; six in Belgium – Westmalle, Westvleteren, Chimay, Rochefort, Orval and Achel and one in the Netherlands, De Koningshoeven.

 

A Trappist brewery is one where the beer is brewed by the Monks.   No other Belgian breweries are entitled by law to apply that name to their product.  One of the things D wanted to do while we are in Belgium was to visit all six in Belgium.  We had two left, Orval and Rochefort.  On Saturday we headed out for a two-hour drive south to visit both, as they are only a few miles apart.  Photo below is at Rochefort.

 

 Rochefort is located inside the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy, near the town of Rochefort.  The monks are very secretive about the brewing process and the brewery is not open to the public so we had to peak through the gates.

 

 

It was amazing to see that modern brewing equipment through the windows.

 

 

It was founded in 1230, and the monks began to brew beer sometime around 1595.   There are approximately 15 monks resident at the monastery.  We were allowed to walk around the church and the grounds.

 

 

They make three beers:  Rochefort 6 (7.5% alcohol).  It is only brewed once per year, representing approximately 1% of total beer production.  The other two are Rochefort 8 (9.2% alcohol) and Rochefort 10 (11.3% alcohol).  The water for the beers is drawn from a well located inside the monastery walls.  The Rochefort 10 is D's favorite of the three… and his 2nd-favorite beer of all beers he's tried.   Rocherfort 10 is excellent when fresh, but also can age for 10 – 15 years.

 

 

As with all other Trappist breweries, the beer is only sold in order to financially support the monastery and some other charitable causes.  The monks will not increase production based on demand or profit motives, but only enough to support themselves, resulting in a fairly limited supply of beer.  D has never had any problems buying any of these beers.

 

For lunch, we stopped at the town of Bouillon, in the province of Luxembourg (not to be confused with the country of Luxembourg).  

 

It is a very pretty little town close to the French boarder and it has  a large castle built around 1050. 

 

The castle is in excellent shape.  We did not tour the castle , as that will be for our next visit.  We did check out the crazy medieval fair that was taking place.

 

 

We grabbed a quick homemade ice cream cone for the road and headed out to Orval.

 

Like all the other trappist abbeys, Orval's brewery is closed to the public. 

But what made Orval more special than the others was its stunning ruins that were open to the public.  

First the beer info:  Orval is the oldest of the brewing monasteries, founded in the 11th century by Benedictine monks.  There really is only one beer sold for commercial consumption called Orval and has a 6.2 % alcohol content.  They do make a second beer call Petite Orval, but this is only for the monks.  Orval is best when aged between 2 and 5 years before drinking.

Now the ruins –

There is evidence that there was a chapel here in the 10th century. In 1070, a church and monastery was started, but not finished until 1124.  In 1793, during the French Revolution, the abbey was completely burnt down by French forces and these are the ruins that exist today.

Between 1926 and 1948, under the direction of the Trappist monks, the new monastery was constructed and in 1935 Orval regained the rank of Abbey.

 

There is a legend of the abbey, which explains the Orval logo.  Countess Mathilda of Tuscany was visiting the site, when she lost her wedding ring in a spring. 

 

 

 

Distraught by her loss, she asked if God would return her prized possession.  If he would, she would declare the land sacred and donate the money to build the abbey. At that moment a tiny trout appeared at the water's surface with her ring in its mouth. The label of Orval beer displays the trout and ring.

In 1926, the newer monastery was started and completed in 1948.  The new monastery is built on the foundations of the 18th century monastery, reproducing the original plan.  

 

 

 

 

 

They have a very nice gift shop at the abbey where you can purchase beer, cheese made at the abbey, beer glasses, post cards, books, bottle openers, and a variety of other stuff.  We bought beer and cheese.

As you can see from the photos – we had beautiful weather.  We really had a fun day and can now say we have been to all six Trappist breweries!