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Trappist beer

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What is a Trappist beer?

Trappist beers are always abbey beers, but must meet even stricter requirements. Here beer may only be called Trappist once the brewery has joined the “International Trappist Association”. To join this group, the specialty beer must be brewed in a recognized monastery and must be supervised during the brewing process by monks affiliated with the order of the Cistercians. In addition, the beer may not be brewed for commercial purposes and the remuneration resulting from the sale of the beer must be fully credited to the abbey or the monks. Only when all these conditions have been met will the beer receive a logo stating “Authentic Trappist Product” and from that moment on the beer may bear the proud name Trappist.

History of the Trappist

To find out the origin of the Trappist beer, we have to take a big step back in time. We have to go back to the sixth century of our era. In the period between 480 and 547 AD, Benedict of Nursia drew up his monastic rule (Regula Benedicti). This monastic rule, or rather the belief, was about contemplation (contemplation) and work in the Benedictine monastery Montecassino in Italy. The followers of Benedict of Nursia spread throughout Europe in the following years. Over time, there was increasing dissatisfaction with the religious belief that Benedict had passed on to his followers. Due to the great dissatisfaction, a large number of monks decided in 1098 to form a new order, namely "the Cistercians". They soon got the name “Trappists”. Found building plans from that time showed that the monks in the Swiss Sankt Gallen already had a brewery at their disposal, from which it can be deduced that Trappist beers were brewed at least since the year 820. However, the brewing of abbey beers - and therefore also the brewing of Trappist beers - came to an abrupt end in Europe with the French Revolution in 1796. In the years that followed, many abbeys were re-established and they slowly started to focus again on the brewing beer. In 1804, Westmalle Abbey was the first to produce Trappist beer again. Today we know 12 breweries worldwide that can proudly bear the label "Authentic Trappist Product".

What goes well with a Trappist beer?

This question cannot actually be answered. This is because a Trappist beer can actually be anything. For real food pairing tips that fit the specific beers known as Trappist, we recommend that you view the individual pages of these specialty beers on our website. In addition to brewing specialty beer, many Trappists also make other products such as cheese. Check out the brewery's website and see if they also offer these products. It is of course very cool to taste a matching product when consuming the specialty beer, made by the same brewery from which you consume the specialty beer!

Types of Trappist beers

It is a misconception to think that Trappist beer is a beer style of its own. This is not the case. The Trappist stamp stands purely for the label that a beer brewery may carry if they meet all the aforementioned requirements. The breweries themselves have control over the brewing of the beer, as long as all these other conditions are met. Trappist beers are known under many different beer styles, such as “blond beer”, “double beer”, “tripel beer” and many others.

Are you 18 years or older?

We do not sell under the age of 18.