OnTap Magazine

ABBEY WEBSITE PUB FACT Maredsous maredsousbieres.be Set in the middle of a forest in large grounds outside the village. Nice cafeteria, big selection of cheeses, breads and beers. Rochefort abbaye-rochefort.be Small abbey outside town. No tours provided nor official tasting room on site. Try their beers in nearby cafes. Orval orval.be Established in 1132, a beautiful monastery set grounds outside of town. Two museums, one showcasing their beers and cheeses, the other their history, plus a cafeteria. Chimay chimay.com Modest but attractive abbey outside town, open to wander the grounds. About 1km away is the cafeteria, where you can sample cheeses, breads and beers. There's also a gift shop. Westvleteren trappistwestvleteren.be indevrede.be Nondescript building closed to tourists. The café across the road is your best bet to taste the beers, but check opening times and arrive early if you’re hoping for a takeaway. Westmalle trappistwestmalle.be Large abbey next to busy road, but closed to visitors. There is a big, modern cafeteria opposite though, where families hang out. La Trappe latrappetrappist.com Across the border in neighbouring Holland. Excellent beer tour provided, sizable shop and restaurant. Achel achelsekluis.org Straddling the Belgian-Dutch borders, the monastery houses the only tasting room found within an abbey. Bonus: You can watch the monks working in the brewery whilst sipping your tripel. ABBEY OR TRAPPIST? The rules surrounding labelling your beer “Trappist” are clear and concise: the beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery either by monks or under their supervision, and the brewery must not be a money- making venture – it’s merely there to help with monastery upkeep, with anything leftover going to charity. To call your brew an “Abbey Beer” however has no such statute. Abbey beer might be brewed in a non-Trappist monastery, could be brewed by monks or might just use the moniker alongside details of a fictitious monastery or some form of vaguely saintly branding.