Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

By total chance and ignorance I happened to drink an Orval. I was much impressed (:-).
Though only a novice brewer, I thought, hey, maybe I can brew somethin like that. So, I bought Brew Like a Monk. That book does everything but give a full recipe for it. But they emphasize that to really get that gout d'Orval you have to have the Orval yeast. So, what does a novice do? I read up on culturing yeast from bottles in John Palmer's How to Brew, and I had a friend over to help drink some Orvals. (That was hard.) I cultured the yeast in the basement which has an ambient temperature in the upper 50s. After a few generations I felt I had enough to begin brewing, which I did a couple weeks ago. That brew is now in secondary fermentation, and I kept some of the yeast from the primary. I know I won't be able to get around to another try at this for quite a while and in the meantime the yeast will die. So, does anyone want it? If so, the best way to reach me is by phone -- 293-8034. No guarantees (:-).