Trappist Monasteries

I would recommend not to go to Westvleteren if you don't have much time. Except for In de Vrede there isn't much to see.
If you want to cisit a couple of monasteries in one day I would recommend Achel, Westmalle, La Trappe (NL) and Zundert (NL). In Zundert there isn't much to do, but they have an abbey shop and you can tick it off your list :-).

There are loads of good beers and breweries in the borderregion, so it depends what you want.

 

If you have the time, go to Orval. That is a beautiful place. Not many beers except for Orval and Orval Green. But a great experience.

Achel is nice, a great shop and nice surroundings.

 

You can pray with the monks in the church at their prayer-times - but beside this and the café, there is not too much

 

i wouldn't bother going to any of the monestaries, to be honest.
La Trappe is pretty, but still, i wouldn't go out of my way.
Westvleteren's the equivalent of drinking in a large cafeteria/gift shop. only go there if you have time to kill before Struise opens. that's where the real stuff is.

 

You can find cafes and restaurants all over every city with the full range of Trappists. Most of them are, in fact, among the more widely available beers. Of course, Westvleteren is the exception -- it can still be had without going to their almost-on-site cafe. Personally, I think it's still a fun place to go, as an interesting window into Belgian beer-drinking culture, because you'll see how it's used by families as a place for a day out, not as a watering hole. That goes for most anywhere, though. But for the purpose of trying the beer, there are a few potential work-arounds. E.g., Aux Vieux Temps in Brussels. There are some other places it can be bought, as it's a bit less scarce than times past. Unless that is mission-critical, though, I'd say, just pick any nice-looking spot, never mind the length of the beer list, and you'll have plenty of stuff in the style.

 

While there aren't necessarily a ton of activities available at Westvleteren, it is a really beautiful area. I enjoyed both the drive and just wandering around the area. It isn't something I'd drive to at all costs, but it's worth the trip if you're in the vicinity and have no plans.

 

Still OK to drink them, though, right?

 

depends...
Westvleteren? questionable.

 

If you are wanting tours, the Trappist monasteries are probably not the place. With that said, most are a fun visit. Tours can be had at La Trappe in the Netherlands and the others have varying degrees of access. Most are situated in peaceful surroundings and fun to visit. Rochefort has the least to see and do, usually no access and no cafe. Orval is a great visit; old ruins to tour and a great cafe. Achel... a cafe and a very good community store with a nice beer selection and glassware. Chimay is nice, very bucolic. The others, Westvleteren Wesmalle, although usually provide no access to the abbey, have nice cafes. If all you want to do is drink their beer, stay in a city and do so. But, if you want a daytrip and see the surrounding villages etc, by all means go!

 

I concur.

 

Ah, that was satisfying.

Enjoy what you like! I never look down my nose at a Trappist.

 

i'll be completely honest when i say that the quality at Westvleteren has appeared to have declined over the past 3ish years.
last time i was there (a year ago), the three of us had 1 bottle of each. nothing was finished. everything was too astringent and didn't have good yeast character. that's from 1 of 2 possible reasons:
1. oversparging to get more end volume (likely not)
2. really rushing beer out after bottling.

that yeast strain takes a few months of cellaring in order for the yeast to be expressive. perhaps they don't have that luxury and are rushing it out the door.
i love me a solid Westy 12 aged 4ish years. but i wouldn't tell someone to run to the brewery to drink it fresh. the cafe doesn't have the magic that one would expect a trappist brewery to have. and it's obnoxiously full of beer tourists.

just IMO, of course.

 

Many years ago (2001?) Robin Brilleman (waiter at Wildeman and 't Arendsnest and beer and whisky author) told me a W12 needed at least 5 years of aging. He was sort apologizing to someone to whom he just given a case of fresh W12...

Did the vertical at the Kulminator with 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2002. Skipping the 2002 (not comparable) people were split between the 2012 & 2013 as the best. The 2011 was still good but tasted a bit oxidized (not yet "sherry").

Again, this was a while ago but Rochefort didn't used to do any aging at the brewery. A few weeks of fermentation (in a single cylindro-conical fermenter) and into the bottle. The really fresh ones could be a bit nasty. I learned this the hard way when I was choosing beers for a newbie at the Kulminator (he was a producer for ABC News in town for a followup on the big diamond heist -- I had visions of a gig as "beer expert"). I told him that I would buy any beer I chose that he didn't like. I was surprised when he didn't like the R10 -- then I didn't like it either. Saw by the best buy it was like 1 month old.

 

so, two things on this:
1. superfresh Roch 10 is way too bright. it's not great. it needs 6 months or so
2. the comment i've heard is that, since their renos or whatever, Westvleteren's beer has lost it's aging range. 5 years was the norm. now, it's probably 4 years.

 

If you want to visit a Trappist brewery (or any other Belgian breweries) the best way to do it is to hire a Belgian beer tour guide. While I'm sure there are others I have used Regnier DeMuynck who owns LeTrappiste bar in Bruges for years. You can find him on facebook or google. Through him have visited all the Trappist breweries over time with the exception of Westvleteren. Besides the Trappist places my favorite tours have been at Van Steenberge, Bosteels, De Dolle Brouwers, Caracole, Rodenbach and Silly.

 

He was in Belgium in January.