Belgian Trappist Beer
Though Belgium is a country known for many things, one of the immediate ideas that will jump out at you when think of this place is the world class beers that they produce. From the popular pale lager to the unique Flemish red, anyone who has a love for beers can consider this place as their haven.
One of the most popular and interesting beers in this nation is the Belgian Trappist beers. The birth of these beers first originated in the French Cistercian monastery of La Trappe. On 1664, the Abbot of the monastery decided to introduce new rules in the abbey after he observed that the Cistercians have become too liberal. This gave way to the creation of the Strict Observance in which one of the rules state that monasteries should be solely self-supporting. Many monasteries in France have long since brewed beers for the community. Since the establishment of the Strict Observance, however, the beers they produce also became their source of funds for their good causes and other projects.
Nowadays, there is an average of 174 Trappist monasteries in the whole world. However, only seven of them are allowed to have their beers labeled with the logo bearing the ëAuthentic Trappist Productí sign. Six of these seven monasteries are in Belgium and the other one is in Netherlands.
There are some production criteria that should be met in order for Belgian Trappist beers to be given the official Trappist certification. One is that the brewery must be a monastery. Second, the monks should strictly be the ones who will manage the production of the beer. Lastly, the profits from the Trappist beer should be used solely for the monastery or the production of social programs for the people outside the monastery walls.
It should be remembered, however, that the term Trappist beer is simply a controlled term of origin and should never be mistaken as a name of a certain style of beer. Though most Trappist beers are top-fermented, their tastes also differ based from the monastery in which they are produced. The six most popular Belgian Trappist beer makers are the monasteries Orval, Chimay, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Rochefort, and Achel.
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