What Makes a Beer Trappist?

Trappist beer is not really a beer style. A Trappist brewery might make a dubbel, tripel, blond or something else entirely. What makes the beer Trappist is where, why and under whose supervision it is produced.

The name is protected and reserved for products associated with Trappist monasteries. The International Trappist Association also awards its "Authentic Trappist Product" label to products meeting three strict conditions: they must be produced within or close to the abbey, production must take place under the supervision of the monks or nuns, and the income must support the monastic community, the Trappist Order, development projects or charitable work.

That makes Trappist less a recipe than a relationship between beer and monastery.

Belgium remains at the heart of the tradition. Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle and Westvleteren are its recognised Trappist beer producers.

A small group, then — but one with an influence on the international reputation of Belgian beer far greater than its numbers might suggest.