Westvleteren Belgium
Recommended wines: Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap), Westvleteren 8 (blue cap) Trappist beer is undoubtedly the brightest pearl of Old World beer, and this high-alcohol beer brewed by monks still has countless fans. Trappist refers to the Cistercian Church, a spin-off of Catholicism, whose monks had a tradition of self-sufficiency and began brewing beer as early as the fifth century AD, in addition to producing cheese, bread and other products. In 1997, in order to distinguish itself from other breweries that brew monastery beer instead of monasteries, eight Trappist monasteries in Europe united to form the ITP (International Trappist Association), which stipulates that only the beer produced by ITP members can obtain the authoritative hexagonal label and be called abbey beer in the strict sense. As of 2018, ITP has 13 monasteries brewing and selling beer. The abbey of Saint Sixtus, which produces Westvleteren, is a member of the ITP, and the monks here have been brewing beer since 1838 and selling beer to the public in 1931. The abbey of Saint Sixtus totals...
