Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks, members of the Cistercian order. Trappist is a licensed term, and currently only six breweries in the world may legally produce Trappist beers. All six of them are Belgian. To use the name and the "Authentic Trappist Product" logo, the rules of the International Trappist Association must be observed: -The product must be made within the walls of a Trappist abbey. -The product must be made by or under the supervision of the monastery community. -The largest part of the profit must be spent on social work. The six breweries that are allowed to call their beer "Trappist" are -Chimay -Orval -Rochefort -Westmalle -Westvleteren -Achelse Kluis, St Benedictus There is some discussion about La Trappe beer, brewed in The Netherlands by the Koningshoeven brewery in Tilburg. I happen to live only a couple af miles from the abbey. The beer is no longer brewed within the walls of an abbey, but is licenced to a large Dutch brewery (Bavaria). They call it Trappist beer, but it isn't in the true meaning of the word. Neither are beers like the Belgian 'Leffe', which is licenced to Interbrew, one of the biggest breweries in the world. These beers don't carry the official authentic trappist logo.

I don't fully agree with the last answer. The bit about the Authentic Trappist Product logo and licence is correct. However the bit about it being brewed by Trappist monks is partly myth. Under the current agreement a Trappist beer must be brewed within the grounds of a Cistercian abbey of the Trappist order. Chimay, for example, actually bottles its beers away from the abbey, to keep the noise down. The idea of monks hulking great backs of malted barley around is cute but not realistic. In practice the brewery workers and managers are lay people and the breweries will tend to have a board of directors staffed by commercial brewery people. Trappist breweries are every bit as commercially adept as regular breweries. The difference is that the profits from the brewing operations goes to keeping up the abbeys and to other good causes, rather than to corporate or individual shareholders. And monks of the Cistercian Order also hold sway over major decisions, rather like the holders of a "golden share". Tim Webb Good Beer Guide to Belgium & Holland www.booksaboutbeer.com

Koningshoeven known as La Trappe throughout the rest of world is indeed an aunthentic Trappist product. When Bavaria purchased La Trappe the Monastic Business Association in the US made Bavaria change the name in the US because the name La Trappe and Trappist Ale were too similar. However Koningshoeven is still a Trappist Ale (the only Dutch) besides the six Belgians: Westmalle, Chimay, Westvleteren, Rochefort, Orval and Achel. As a matter of fact Koningshoeven is a member of the ITA (International Trappist Association). This Association has allowed Koningshoeven as a real Trappist Ale.