Often referred to as The Queen of Trappists. It was first made in 1931, and has a complex and unusual flavor and aroma produced by a unique strain of yeast. The beer is light in color, slightly cloudy, and has a large, foamy head. There is a complex aroma of leather, horse blanket, spice, and many other earthy components.

As with all other Trappist breweries, the beer is only sold in order to financially support the monastery and some other good causes. All of the profits from the sale of the beer is distributed to charities and for community development around the region.

Beer critics consider Orval, like most Trappist beers, to be world-class quality, but it is definitely an outlier within the group. Its very distinctive taste is largely attributed to two parts of the brewing process. One of these is the use of dry hopping, in which large meshed bags of hops infuse the beer during the three week maturation period. The other is the use of Brettanomyces yeast during this same maturation, which are a local wild yeast.
Orval beer is bottled exclusively in a distinctive skittle shaped 33 cl bottle. The bottling plant has a capacity of 24,000 bottles per hour. The beer is then matured at 15°C for a minimum of four weeks on site before being distributed. Beer that will be sold at the Abbey or local cafe is matured for six months.

As the beer is bottle conditioned, its flavour can improve over the years with ageing, although its hop character and relatively low alcohol make it less suitable for this purpose than some other Trappist ales.

Reddish-brown colour, with a very compact head and an aroma of figs, feels like honey in the mouth. The alcohol profile is a major component in the flavour of this rich ale. It is very similar to 6 and 8, but has much more of everything. Some may find the high alcohol content to be disagreeable.

Chimay Bleue (Blue), 9% abv darker ale. In the 75 cl bottle, it is known as Grande Réserve. This copper-brown beer has a creamy head and a slightly bitter taste. Considered to be the “classic” Chimay ale, it exhibits a considerable depth of fruity, peppery character. The taste continues to evolve and develop with a few years of age, and is extremely popular with the Belgian population.

This top fermented Trappist beer , refermented in the bottle, is not pasteurised.

Delirium Nocturnum is the sister Belgian ale to Delirium Tremens. Delirium Nocturnum is Belgian ale that is strong, complex, and has lots of flavor and character. Delirium Nocturnum is a triple fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle.

Delirium Nocturnum is brewed in Belgian Family Brewery in Brouwerij Huyghe which is just outside Ghent, Belgium. The brewery is over 350 years old. It began in 1654 and is still at its original location and is still family owned. It’s known by many beer fans as the brewer of the well-reputed and amusingly named “Delirium Tremens”.

When Delirium Nocturnum (and Tremens) began being imported into the United States and Canada, it was quickly banned and taken off the shelves because of its name and the law that forbids the sale of an alcohol product that promotes “excessive drinking”. It was refused to be allowed to be licensed for consumption, fearing the beers’ names would encourage alcohol abuse. The dictionary defines the word ‘delirium’ as: ‘an acute mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations’, and, ‘frenzied excitement’. It was also found offensive to people who have had the “DT’s” which indicates a violent sickness induced by withdrawal after alcohol abuse. To avoid not being imported, Delirium was imported under the name ‘Mateen Triple’ for a while until the ban was lifted in the United States and Canada.

Because of the living yeast added for refermentation in the bottle (bottle conditioning), the taste of Delirium will change (and often improve) with age due to both metabolism by the yeast and the effects of oxidation in the bottle.

Yellowish-brown colour, with a more pronounced aroma, more fruits and a slight amount of Demi-Sec. This variety constitutes the largest proportion of production.

Reddish colour, almost like autumn leaves, very consistent texture with a slightly spicy aroma and an intense taste of caramel, fruit, and hints of raisins. It is only brewed about once per year, representing approximately 1% of total beer production, thus is quite difficult to obtain.