Beer in Belgium - Abbey Beers

Abbey Beers

The designation "abbey beers" (Bières d'Abbaye or Abdijbier) was originally used for any monastic or monastic-style beer. After introduction of an official Trappist beer designation by the International Trappist Association in 1997, it came to mean products similar in style or presentation to monastic beers. In other words, an Abbey beer may be:-

• Produced by a non-Trappist monastery — e.g. Benedictine; or
• produced by a commercial brewery under commercial arrangement with an extant monastery; or
• branded with the name of a defunct or fictitious abbey by a commercial brewer; or
• given a vaguely monastic branding, without mentioning a specific monastery, by a commercial brewer.

In 1999, a "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer" (Erkend Belgisch Abdijbier) logo was introduced by the Union of Belgian Brewers to indicate beers brewed under license to an existing or abandoned abbey, as opposed to other abbey-branded beers which are marketed using other implied religious connections, such as a local saint. The requirements for registration under the logo include the monastery having control over certain aspects of the commercial operation, and a proportion of profits going to the Abbey or its designated charities. Monastic orders other than the Trappists can be and are included in this arrangement.

What are now recognized as Trappist breweries began operations began in 1838. Several French monasteries, however, maintained "working" breweries for 500+ years before the French Revolution (1789–1799) disrupted religious life across the northern French province of Wallonia. Even then, some Abbey beers such as Affligem Abbey, whose name now appears on beers made by the Heineken-owned Affligem Brewery, resumed brewing from "working" monasteries until Belgium's World War I occupation. Commercial Abbey beers first appeared during Belgium's World War I recovery.
Although Abbey beers do not conform to rigid brewing styles, most tend to include the most recognizable and distinctive Trappist styles of brune (Belgian brown ale, aka dubbel), strong pale ale or tripel, and blonde ale or blond. Modern abbey breweries range from microbreweries to international giants.

As of 2011, the eighteen certified Abbey beers are:-

• Abbaye de Cambron is brewed in Opzullik (Silly) by Brasserie de Silly.
• Abbaye de Bonne Espérance is brewed in Quenast by Brouwerij Lefebvre.
• Abdij Dendermonde is brewed in Merchtem by Brouwerij De Block.
• Abbaye de Saint-Martin, historically referenced to 1096, is brewed near Tournai by Brasserie Brunehaut.
• Affligem, produced for Affligem Abbey by a Heineken-owned brewery.
• Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu is located on the grounds of a former abbey.
• Bornem is brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen by Brouwerij Van Steenberge.
• Ename is brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen by Brouwerij Roman.
• Floreffe is brewed to fund a school housed in a former monastery.
• Grimbergen, made by the large Alken Maes brewery for an extant Norbertine abbey.
• Keizersberg is brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen by Brouwerij Van Steenberge.
• Leffe, the Abbey brand of Stella Artois, itself part of the multinational Inbev corporation, is brewed under licence from an extant brewery. It is thought to be the first such arrangement. Leffe has global distribution.
• Maredsous, the Abbey brand of Duvel Moortgat, Belgium's second largest brewer, licensed from Maredsous Abbey.
• Postel is brewed in Opwijk by Brouwerij De Smedt.
• Ramée is brewed in Purnode by Brasserie Du Bocq.
• St. Feuillien is a small independent brewery.
• Steenbrugge is brewed in Brugge by Brouwerij De Gouden Boom.
• Tongerlo is brewed in Boortmeerbeek by Brouwerij Haacht.

Other non-certified Abbey beers include:-

• Abbaye des Rocs is made by a farmers' co-operative and named after a local ruined abbey.
• Kasteelbier, monastic style beers brewed in a castle.
• The St. Bernardus brewery, based on Watou originally brewed under contract for the abbey of St Sixtus at Westvleteren, but now continued on an independent basis, in parallel with production at the monastery itself. Their range is considered a close match in recipe and style to the St Sixtus beers, which can be hard to obtain outside the area.
• Tripel Karmeliet, wirh a three-grain recipe, is produced by Bosteels, an independent brewery who also make Pauwel Kwak.

NOTE: At least one beer writer warns against assuming that closeness of connection with a real monastery confirms a product's quality.