Big Ideas for Small-Scale Craft Brewing: Don’t Miss a Full-Day of 10 Live Online Seminars at the 2026 NanoCon. Register now and Save 25%!

recipe

Brasserie D’Orval’s Orval Trappist Ale clone

Orval Trappist Ale clone, all-grain

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.059  FG = 1.002
IBU = 33  SRM = 12  ABV = 6.2%
Orval pours orange-brown with a big, rocky head. The very spritzy levels of carbonation and lightly sour with a distinctive Brett character make the beer feel prickly on the tongue. Orval beer is distinctly dry and has little hop bitterness or flavor, although it is the only Trappist ale to be dry hopped. You’ll really taste the pale malt base, so don’t use US, German or English malts for this.

Ingredients

6.25 lbs. (2.8 kg) Belgian pale ale malt
2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) Vienna malt (6 °L)
0.25 lbs. (0.11 kg) crystal malt (160 °L)
1.75 lbs. (0.79 kg) cane sugar
7.5 AAU Hallertau-Hersbrücker hops (60 min.) (1.9 oz./53 g of 4% alpha acids)
2.5 AAU Styrian Goldings hops (15 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 5% alpha acids)
0.33 oz. (9.4 g) Styrian Goldings hops (dry hops)
1/4 tsp. yeast nutrients
Wyeast 3522 (Belgian Ardennes) or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale) yeast (1.5 qt./1.5 L yeast starter)
Wyeast 3526 (Brettanomyces lambicus) or White Labs WLP650 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis) yeast
1.2 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Heat 2.8 gallons (10.6 L) of water to 164 °F (73 °C), stir in crushed grains and mash at 153 °F (67 °C). Mash for 60 minutes then stir in boiled water to raise grain bed temperature to 168 °F (76 °C). Hold for 5 minutes. Recirculate until wort is clear, then begin running wort off to kettle. Sparge with 170 °F (77 °C) water. Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops at times indicated in recipe. Add sugar and yeast nutrients with 15 minutes left in boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Aerate wort and pitch beer yeast. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C). Rack to secondary when fermentation is complete and add Brettanomyces and dry hops. Let condition for 2 months before bottling. Bottle in heavy bottles.

Orval Trappist Ale Clone, partial mash

(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.059  FG = 1.002
IBU = 33  SRM = 12  ABV = 6.1%

Ingredients

1.75 lbs. (0.79 kg) Coopers Light dried malt extract
2.25 lbs. (1.0 kg) Coopers Light liquid malt extract
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Belgian pale ale malt
13 oz. (0.37 kg) Vienna malt (6 °L)
0.25 lbs. (0.11 kg) crystal malt (160 °L)
1.75 lbs. (0.79 kg) cane sugar
7.5 AAU Hallertau-Hersbrücker hops (60 min.) (1.9 oz./53 g of 4% alpha acids)
2.5 AAU Styrian Goldings hops (15 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g of 5% alpha acids)
0.33 oz. (9.4 g) Styrian Goldings hops (dry hop)
1/4 tsp. yeast nutrients
Wyeast 3522 (Belgian Ardennes) or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale) yeast (1.5 qt./1.5 L yeast starter)
Wyeast 3526 (Brettanomyces lambicus) or White Labs WLP650 (Brettanomyces bruxellensis) yeast
1.2 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

In a large soup pot, heat 4.6 quarts (4.4 L) of water to 164 °F (73 °C). Add crushed grains to grain bag and steep around 153 °F (67 °C) for 45 minutes. While grains steep, begin heating 2.1 gallons (7.8 L) of water in your brewpot. When steep is over, remove 1.5 qts. of water from brewpot and add to the “grain tea” in steeping pot. Place a colander over your brewpot and place your steeping bag in it. Pour grain tea (with water added) through the grain bag. Heat liquid in brewpot to a boil, then stir in dried malt extract, add first charge of hops and begin the 60 minutes boil. With 15 minutes left in boil, add hops, sugar and yeast nutrients. Then turn off heat and stir in liquid malt extract. Stir well to dissolve extract, then resume heating. (Keep the boil clock running while you stir.) At the end of the boil, add last charge of hops, then cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Add water to make 5 gallons (19 L), aerate wort and pitch yeast. Ferment at 64 °F (18 °C). Rack to secondary and add Brettanomyces and dry hops. Let condition for 2 months before bottling. Bottle in heavy bottles.

You might also like…

recipe

Cervecería Quiteña’s Fandango Clone

recipe

Russian River Brewing Co.’s STS Pils clone

Because STS is dry hopped using European-type hops, it would technically be classified as an Italian-style Pilsner. However, if you read the

recipe

BridgePort Brewing Company: Pub Porter clone

BridgePort’s dark and malty porter is only sold on draught at their Portland, Oregon pub.

recipe

Wychwood Brewing Company: Hobgoblin Dark Ale clone

This ruby-colored English ale delivers a delicious chocolate toffee malt flavor, balanced with rounded moderate bitterness and an overall fr

Continue reading – Enter your email to log in or register

New to Brew Your Own? Create a free account to get our weekly newsletter and two free article webpage visits every month.

Yes! I would like to receive new content and updates.