Westmalle Brewery (Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle) is a

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

in the

Westmalle Abbey Westmalle Abbey, otherwise the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle ( nl, Abdij van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Heilig Hart or the "Abbey of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart"), is a monastery of the Cistercians of Strict Observance in Westmalle in the Belgian p ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It produces three beers, designated as

Trappist beer Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label ...

by the

International Trappist Association Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label ...

. Westmalle Tripel is credited with being the first golden

strong pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at that time. Diff ...

to use the term

Tripel Tripel is a term used by brewers mainly in the Low Countries, some other European countries, and the U.S. to describe a strong pale ale, loosely in the style of ''Westmalle Tripel''. The origin of the term is unknown, though the main theory is ...

History

The Trappist abbey in Westmalle (officially called Abdij Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Heilig Hart van Jezus) was founded 6 June 1794, but the community was not elevated to the rank of Trappist abbey until 22 April 1836.

Martinus Dom Dom Martinus Dom, O.C.R., (24 December 1791 – 9 December 1873) was a Belgian Trappist monk. He served as the first abbot of the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle, where he founded the Westmalle Brewery. Early life He was born Frans Daniël Dom i ...

, the first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

, decided the abbey would brew its own beer, and the first beer was brewed on 1 August 1836 and first imbibed on 10 December 1836. The pioneer brewers were Father Bonaventura Hermans and Albericus Kemps. The first beer was described as light in alcohol and rather sweet. By 1856, the monks had added a second beer: the first strong brown beer. This brown beer is today considered the first

dubbel The term dubbel (also double) is a Belgian Trappist beer naming convention. The origin of the dubbel was a strong version of a brown beer brewed in Westmalle Abbey in 1856, which is known to have been on sale to the public by June 1861.Jef van den ...

('double' in Dutch). The current Dubbel is derived from a recipe first brewed in 1926. Local sales began in 1856 and the oldest registered sale was on 1 January 1861. The brewery was enlarged and rebuilt in 1865 based on the example set by the Trappists of Forges (nearby

Chimay Chimay (, wa, Chimai) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. In 2006, Chimay had a population of 9,774. The area is 197.10 km2 which gives a populatio ...

). Father Ignatius van Ham joined the brewer team. Further commercialisation and sales to traders commenced in 1921. In 1933 a complete new brewery was built and in 1934, the brewery brewed a

of 9.5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

giving it the name

- the first modern use of the name. The brewery was remodeled in 1991. It currently has a bottling capacity of 45,000 bottles per hour, and yearly output of 120,000 hl (in 2004). The majority of the workers in the brewery are no longer monks, but secular staff brought in from outside. There are 22 monks and 40 outside staff.

Products

The brewery produces three beers. ''Westmalle Dubbel'' is a 7%

Dubbel The term dubbel (also double) is a Belgian Trappist beer naming convention. The origin of the dubbel was a strong version of a brown beer brewed in Westmalle Abbey in 1856, which is known to have been on sale to the public by June 1861.Jef van den ...

. ''Westmalle Tripel'' is a 9.5% abv

tripel Tripel is a term used by brewers mainly in the Low Countries, some other European countries, and the U.S. to describe a strong pale ale, loosely in the style of ''Westmalle Tripel''. The origin of the term is unknown, though the main theory is ...

, was first brewed in 1934 and the recipe has not changed since 1956. It is made with pale candy sugar and has a very pale colour produced from a mash of light pilsener malts. Styrian Goldings hops are used along with some German varieties and the classic

Saaz Saaz may refer to: *Saaz, the former German name of Žatec, a town in the Czech Republic **Saaz hops, a hop variety used in production of pilsener style beer **DSV Saaz, a former football club in Žatec * ''Saaz'' (film), a 1998 Indian film * Saaz ...

pilsener hop. After a long secondary fermentation ''Westmalle Tripel'' is bottled with a dose of sugar and yeast. ''Westmalle Extra'' is a 5% abv beer with limited availability, i.e. a ''

patersbier Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label ...

''. It is the beer drunk by the monks during the working-day. It has been speculated that Westmalle's choice of three types of beers was based on the

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

.Geert van Lierde et al., ''In het Spoor van de Trappisten'' The abbey also produces milk and cheese.

References

Bibliography

* Jan B. Van Damme o.c.r., ''Cistercienzers of Trappisten te Westmalle'', Westmalle, 1974 * Jan B. Van Damme o.c.r., ''Geschiedenis van de Trappistenabdij te Westmalle (1794–1956)'', Westmalle, 1977 * J. Van Remoortere, ''Ippa's Abdijengids voor Belgie'', Lanno, 1990

External links

Trappist Abbey of Westmalle
{{coord, 51, 17, 08, N, 4, 39, 28, E, region:BE_type:landmark, display=title 1836 establishments in Belgium Belgian brands Trappist breweries in Belgium Breweries of Flanders Companies based in Antwerp Province Malle