Vacation!!!

I will be on vacation this Sunday and will not be around for "Belgian Beer Sunday's". Don't worry, I have something special planned for next Sunday... I purchased a Trappist beer called "Westmalle", the triple version of their beer. If you have been down the Belgian Beer isle at your local grocery store or Bev'mo, you have probably seen that certain breweries advertise "Belgian-style" or "Trappist-style", there are many imitators, but only a few real Trappists.


In the world there are 171 Trappist Monasteries, out of those 171 only 7 produce beer (6 in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands). Like Irish and Bourbon Whiskey, authentic Trappist beer must be made in the supervision of these monasteries. The 6 Trappist Monasteries that produce beer are: Brouwerij de Koningshoeven; Bières de Chimay; Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle; Brasserie d'Orval; Brasserie de Rochefort; Brouwerij Westvleteren; and Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis; I have listed the above monasteries in rank of annual production volumes.

These are the following conditions that must be met to list that a beer is an authentic Trappist beer:

• The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist abbey, by or under control of Trappist monks.
• The brewery, the choices of brewing, and the commercial orientations must obviously depend on the monastic community.
• The economic purpose of the brewery must be directed toward assistance and not toward financial profit.

So next Sunday (1/23/11) I will crack open one of the finest Belgian beers in the world, tune in next time to see what I think of this Belgian beer and how it ranks up to the other "Belgian-style" beers I have had.

See you at the bar! :D