Traditional Belgian brewery Orval goes for GEA Brewery Systems
In one of the most beautiful regions in Belgian Luxembourg, in the south of the extensive Ardennes forests, lies a centuries-old monastery: the Cistercian Abbey of Orval. The abbey‘s history dates back more than 900 years. Already in 1070 AD, it was inhabited by the first Benedictine monks of the region.
Exceptional beers with a long history
The current brewery of the Cistercian Abbey of Orval was built in 1931. Only one year later, the first Trappist beer was produced, a beer that is still well-known and very popular among beer drinkers far beyond the country‘s borders. The “Orval Trappist Ale” (6.2 % alcohol) has a complex and exceptional taste, which is due to a unique yeast strain. The beer has a very light colour, it is slightly cloudy and has a large foamy head. The “Petite Orval“ (3.5 % alcohol) was brewed for the monks and is still sold exclusively in the monastery.
State-of-the-art brewhouse technology in combination with traditional brewing methods
The Belgian brewers chose GEA Brewery Systems – the global competence centre for brewery equipment – for the installation of a brewhouse. They placed this order because they wanted to use this brewhouse for an even more traditional brewing method. Similar as for English ales, mashing is now done in a kind of mash tun, a special lauter tun. The brewery deliberately did not install any mash vessels. It works with traditional infusion, where the temperature is increased by adding hot water. For 200 hl cast-out quantity and eight brews per day, two lauter tuns were installed. Now, the world-famous Orval beer is brewed according to a very traditional brewing method and with advanced brewing technology: milling with MILLSTAR™, mashing in the LAUTERSTAR™, dynamic low-pressure boiling with JETSTAR™ and trub separation with GEA Westfalia Separator.
Progress and tradition
Right from the start, very high standards were set not only for engineering and technology. The modifi cations had to be made without stopping normal beer production. The project management team had to cope with great challenges in terms of planning and execution due to the lack of space in the monastery brewhouse. The brewing vessels have traditional copper covers and the floor on the operating level is made of glass. Walking across the glass floor of the brewhouse, visitors can admire the technical equipment installed in the room below. The brewery impressively demonstrates the successful combination of tradition and modernity.
