In article >,
"FujiGirl" > wrote:

> my fellow beer lovers swear this is the best trappist ever made. since i
> [and my partner] love trappist it's inevitable we must make that trip down
> south [210km] and get a few of these from the monastery one of these days.
> they no longer sell it to the shops, you see. my current trappist
> favourites are Rochefort 8 and Gouden Carolus. yours?

Lovely beers all, though Gouden Carolus is brewed by Het Anker in
Mechelen and is in no way a Trappist beer.

No one has yet mentioned beers from de Achelse Kluis, the "newest"
Trappist (their brewing was interrupted by WWI and only resumed in the
late 1990s). Although their first beers were "works in progress", they
have lately been brewing some lovely beers. Last winter, they made a
beer called "de Drie Wijzen" that quite successfully put them on a par
with some of the other Trappists. From what I have read, the monastary
hired the retired head monk/brewer from Westmalle, which is practically
down the road from Achel, who then hired/consulted with his counterpart
from the abbey in Rochefort.

Lately, here in Amsterdam, several beer places have begun offering a
more varied selections of German beers. While not the same style as the
Belgian Trappists, some of the more complex beers from Andechs and
Ettaler -- both German monastaries -- are absolutely delicious in their
own right, and though a different style are no less enjoyable.

If you like the rich, full tastes of the Belgian Trappists, you might
also enjoy the Christmas/Winter beer festival in Essen, Belgium this
December. You can read about this special tenth-anniversary festival at
http://www.ober.be/

--M.