Trappist Ale

According to EC law, Trappist ale may only come from six abbeys of the Trappist order that still brew beer on their premises. Five are in Belgium and one, La Trappe comes from Holland. Although the styles may differ widely between them, they all share a common trait of being top fermented, strong, bottle conditioned, complex, and fully flavored brews. At most, each abbey produces three different varieties of increasing gravity. These can often improve with some years of cellaring. In all there are 15 different trappist beers from the six monasteries. The ales from Trappist abbeys are Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Westmalle, Westvleteren, and La Trappe. Chimay and Orval are currently well distributed in the major US markets, but the others might prove very hard to find on a consistent basis. Trappist ales are among the most complex and old fashioned of beers that one can find--little wonder that many connoisseurs treat them as the holy grail of beer drinking.