Brewers misusing the term "Trappist"

the Trappist brewers don't follow any particular guideline. the greatest relation they have to one another is the monastic affiliations and location. any brewer that is not in the order who is calling their beer "Trappist" is not only inaccurate but lazy. same goes for "Abbey" style, though at least that is not a protected name.

the monks themselves are partly to blame for the confusion too. the Trappists have contracted with other breweries in the past, for production, bottling and distribution if i am correct.

but i do not recall any brewer recently using the term who is not in fact a Trappist.
Cheers.

 

The ones which have done that in the past, have lost the ability to use "Trappist".

Do a search here on BA for "Trappist" under "Beer" - it'll turn up dozens of examples - most seem to be US brewpubs or draught-only beers, rather those from "shipping breweries" with labeled bottles (aka "evidence").

http://beeradvocate.com/search?q=Trappist&qt=beer

RateBeer seems to have a few more examples, as well, in the databank.

 

Wait...U.S. craft brewers are running roughshod over long-revered traditions??? Are they supposed to simply relinquish their right to "innovate?"

 

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

 

i thought of consulting with you for this...
the monks woke up and realized they had something here apparantly.

leave it to the local ma and pa brewpub to be inaccurate and lazy.
i would certainly call it if a pub was serving something called Trappist style. yeah, i'm that guy. in this instance. the waitress can think what she wants of me, but Trappist Style anything isn't going to cut it at a place that should know better.
Cheers.

 

This is the last time I recall much fuss being made over there -- over here is a whole 'nother story

 

I've seen trappist style, and I think that's fine. If someone's actually claiming it was brewed in a trappist monastary and it wasn't, that's an issue.

 

My local Brew Pub is named Trap Rock and theyhave brewed an ale called Trappist Rock.

 

Well, besides the fact that (as noted in the link):

​

" “Trappist” is not a style of beer. Trappist monks brew pale ales, dark brown dubbels, blonde tripels, quadrupels, witbiers and strong, dark ales." ​

​

... that's not how Trademark law works in the US. And "Trappist" is a trademarked term.

Word Mark AUTHENTIC TRAPPIST PRODUCT​

​

Goods and Services IC 032. US 045 046 048. G & S: Beers; mineral and aerated waters and other non-alcoholic drinks; fruit drinks and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages​

​

Owner (APPLICANT) Internationale Vereniging TRAPPIST International association BELGIUM Donkerstraat 12 B-8640 WESTVLETEREN BELGIUM​

​

​

 

About as much as the green apple in DL '12.

Bazinga!

 

That's still innaccurate and misleading. What "Trappist style"? Orval is totally different from, say, Westy 12. It's like saying Belgian style. Which one do you mean!?

edit - posted before seeing jesskidden's comment

 

Examples would be helpful, though it does seem that they have a problem with White Labs for naming WLP500 "Trappist Ale" and Wyeast for naming WY3787 "Trappist High Gravity." I don't at all think these companies are doing anything wrong or misleading. "To call a yeast 'Trappist' has no meaning," they say. I disagree.

 

It is sad to hear that this is even an issue. A. Trappist is not a style. I'd only have guesses as to what style a beer was brewed in if someone was referencing it as such. B. Who do these imitators think they are fooling? The meaning behind "Trappist" seems like beer 101 for most beer nerds? Anyone attempting to dupe the consumer on the issue is only embarrassing themselves.

 

The same thing happens with the term "Koelsch" here in the U.S.

 

WLP500 is a yeast strain that is actually propagated from the yeast that Chimay use. WY3787 likewise actually comes from Westmalle. They are not saying that you will be able to brew a "Trappist" beer with them, they are just giving a descriptor of their origin in this case.

 

Yes, exactly.

 

I can't complain about "abbey" as a term. If St. Bernardus, Leffe, and Grimbergen are allowed to use it, then why not Allagash or Ommegang? Lumping "abbey" into the discussion confuses matters. Also, it's become reasonably well understood that Dubbel, Tripel etc can be considered "abbey" styles.

As for "Trappist" on the other hand, I'm totally on board with the article. Why exactly consumers might or might not care that their beer is produced by an actually monastery I can't say, but I can't blame the monks for wanting to keep them informed.

 

"trappist-style" has an obvious meaning; beers in the style of chimay, orval, etc. "but they brew beers of all different styles!" no, they brew beers of about 5 to 10 (if you're really generous) styles. if you're brewing a beer "like those ones," you can be casually said to be brewing "trappist style". there aren't very many trappist breweries, after all, and they rarely brew new-style one-offs that anyone knows about.

copyright infringement is one thing, but as far as building consumer expectations, it's not the most specific thing you can say, but it's far from the least specific. a lot more specific than say, "german style lager" which includes a ton more beers than saying something is like the trappists.

other seemingly vague names ("american pale ale"??? we make a lot of different pale ales here in america) are actually more specific because brewers associate them with certain criteria (if you made a beer with all EKG hops, some marris otter, and a decent proportion of crystal malt, you'd be pushing the limits by advertising it as an "american pale ale"). "trappist style" funnily does not have anywhere near the specificity of "american pale ale," but if you've had all the trappist beers it does put you in a certain ballpark.

there's nothing too weird about this, by the way. "west coast style IPA" might taste like a pine cone, or a bag of weed, or a bag of grapefruits. these aren't exactly the most similar to each other flavors.

 

...sigh.