But damn, Orval yeast does make the best Belgian Pale Ale in the world, so there's that to consider. Never actually brewed with that one though.
Best way to replicate Orval these days is to use Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes (aka WLP 550) as the primary yeast, and to either use Orval dregs or Brettanomyces bruxellensis (from either WL or Wyeast) as a secondary yeast, or at bottling. To answer the OP, that would be my pick. Wyeast 3522 at 68F for 3 or 4 days, then adding dregs of Orval 4 days in, and letting it sit in primary for 3 months, followed by a couple of months of bottle conditioning.
I've had good results with Wyeast 3522 and that used to be my stock answer. However, after meeting a Belgian homebrewer and tasting the results of Wyeast 3544 (Witbier) in a pale ale that is my new "go to" yeast for Belgian pales. Also, don't be afraid to mix strains.
I recently used the White Labs 570 Belgian Golden Ale yeast for a Saison, Wit, and Dubbel, and I loved them all. Very versatile yeast with a nice balance of fruit and peppery phenols. The Dubblel in particular is my favorite of the three.
Assuming you mean BJCP type Belgian Pales (Category 16B), Wyeast 1762 (Belgian Abbey II) has made my best ones.
Wyeast puts out the Bastogne yeast as a platinum series yeast. I've never used it, but that, w/ a supplementary bret pitch like you describe, is probably the best way to replicate Orval.
Currently, the Achouffe strain, WY 3522, is my favorite. But 16B is a style I have only made 2x, a few months ago with WY 3522 (very nice beer), and once with WLP 560, more than 5 years ago, when I was prone to not making starters and perhaps making some other mistakes too.
The brewer’s yeast used to make Orval is WLP510 which is a seasonal: “WLP510 Bastogne Belgian Ale Yeast Seasonal Availability: Jan - Feb A high gravity, Trappist style ale yeast. Produces dry beer with slight acidic finish. More ‘clean’ fermentation character than WLP500 or WLP530. Not as spicy as WLP530 or WLP550. Excellent yeast for high gravity beers, Belgian ales, dubbels and trippels.” My preferred yeast for making Trappist style ales (and BSDA) is Wyeast 3787 (the Westmalle strain). I have never made a BPA with 3787 yet but I have a recipe formulated for a Cranberry BPA which I intend to brew with 3787 next spring. Cheers!
That's true, and I have used it to do an Orval clone, but unfortunately that Brastogne yeast is not currently available. So, as stated in my original post, 3522 + brett b is your best bet right now
Jogging my memory... I tried to make something Orval-like with 3522 and Orval bottle dregs... because the Bastogne yeast was not available... and it was good.
I've made a handful of Belgians, and some american styles with Belgian yeast, but by far my favorite is Wyeast 3655 Belgian Schelde in a pale ale. It's a seasonal release so as soon as I can get it I'm making the pale recipe again.
I like WY3787 myself, but then again I have never used a different strain. If you want to experiment I would suggest a split batch with 2 different pitching rates, you may be surprised. I did that with 3787 for a triple once and found that 400K cells/ml/plato favored esters while 750K cells/ml plato favored fruity esters. On the topic of Orval you can have a very Orval like beer in 2 months if you grow up dregs and use them as the primary fermenter. I have not gotten the grain bill exact yet but using dregs grown up to proper pitching rates works really well.
Another vote for 3787. When fermented at about 62°F it hits all the notes I look for in a Belgian ale.
