6 pack of Orval exploding when opened

Well, I don't know much about Belgians, but I know many of them are bottle conditioned. Usually when bottles like that sit for an extended period of time in room temperature, they can turn into gushers since the yeast is gonna keep producing as much CO2 as it can. But I'm sure you already knew that. I'm sure someone has a much better hypothesis.

 

Wow! I drink Orval once or twice a month, but never had this happening.

I Think it just has been shaken a lot during transport. Probably transportation by air can also cause some problems. Cargo areas in plains are not like the passenger areas with pressure and temperature.

 

Haven't had this happen to me with any beer yet. It does remind me of a video review I saw for a bottle conditioned pale ale, a while ago. The presenter recommended really chilling the beer down and letting it sit for a good while. Don't know if there is any merit to that, I think it was from Greg Puckett's channel.

 

Orval six pack!?!

 

Wait...Orval comes in six-packs?

Have I been living under a bridge for 25 years? Why have I never seen this? (Other than the fact that I don't live in Europe where the 4-packs are available)

 

Well if the beer was agitated and sat warm for a long time there might be too much CO2 in the head space. Chilling it for a week or so in the fridge would settle the beer and help the liqued reabsorb CO2. Try getting a cheap bottle of Seltzer water and while its warm shake it good then open it. If that's what your beer did we may have found the problem. (BTW stand by the sink if you do give this idea a try. :-))

 

If it sat long enough at a temperature high enough to keep the brett active, it will build up pressure as the yeast continues to work. If I am at all uncertain of the handling, I open brett beers with a bowl underneath to catch potential gushing.

 

Typically if that happens it's the result of bottling the batch too soon. When the beer is bottled before it has finished fermentation the yeast will continue working therefore building carbonation causing it to explode when you open it, often as if it has been shaken. If this is the case it probably also had extremely dense head and tasted really carbonated no real flavor and terrible mouthfeel. It's usually caused by the brewery being in a hurry to bottle the product and move it down the line to struggling to keep up with demand. Usually just a single batch issue and if you still have the rest of that six pack you should be able to get a refund from the brewer, it's good for them to know so they can recall the rest of that batch before others experience the mishap.

Cheers!

 

I have been working on a case of Orval for about 5 years. I have it stored in a cool cellar and when I bring a bottle up I refrigerate it for several days. Orval uses an ale yeast for the initial fermentation and Brettanomyces (Brett) in the secondary. Brett is slow acting but works for ever and if the six-pack was old (more than 3 years) and if it was stored at room temperature, then the pressure might build up in the bottle. Try getting it as cold as possible before opening (near freezing) and then carefully decant it into a large glass and let it sit for a while to get up to decent drinking temperature. As Orval ages some very nice things happen to it so hopefully yours is just old and slightly mishandled.

If it is an infection, such as fusarium, typically the bottle will erupt like a small, slow volcano - I have had bottles erupt for 45 minutes or more but this is not a violent but it is sad to watch 75% of your bottle ooze out.

 

Orval from Mash in to Bottling is 3-4 weeks and then in cold storage 3-5 weeks. Also Orval is bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces so you have a slow re-ferment in the bottle allowing the beer to have a recommended shelf life of 5 years.
I highly doubt those Monks are in the process of rushing a product down the line.

As for the issue at hand, the only thing i could think of would be (A) insufficient time in the for the beer to reabsorb the Co2 trapped in the head space (B) unfortunate mishandling of the beer.

 

It wasn't cold enough. Belgian beers will explode if not chilled long enough

 

Some "gift"

 

If anyone is worried about their Orval exploding, I will gladly dispose of it.

 

Packaging info would be helpful. I also saw a 12-pack of Orval sitting on its side at a distributor once. That's a disgraceful no-no.

 

You might want to stay away from crosses and holy water...

 

I'm sure it's some combination of the ideas that have been said. I don't have any insight beyond that. I just know that if I helped a buddy move and that happened to me I would bring it up relentlessly and repeatedly to him forever. "Remember that time I spent a whole weekend helping you move and the fucking beer you got me sprayed in my face?" Something along those lines.

 

I haven't had this happen with an orval but it happens once in a while with bottle conditioned brett beers. I try to remember to open then over the sink.