Belgian Beer, Travel, and Learning French

Beer Tourism and Belgian success story! A place to learn French! And Enjoy Food!

Belgium unquestionably has most of the iconic monastic ‘trappiest’ breweries in Europe!

Wouldn’t anyone love to travel and visit a place to degustér or savour and appreciate drinking and eating lots of yummy food, while learning French? This is a very good way to learn a language. Fit into Language could be your private tour interpreter or it can be arranged by Belgian locals to come and show you around.

If you love beer, Belgium is one of the best places to go and enjoy beer, taste them and cook with it! Yes, a famous beef stew, or lamb stew is delicious with beer! One of these is the famous Carbonade flamande, carbonnade or à la flamande is a traditional Belgian, French Flemish, Northern Brabantian and Zeelandic Flemish sweet-sour beef and onion stew made with beer, and seasoned with thyme, bay leaves and mustard.

Belgium beer is famous because most of the Belgian beers are a specialty, you can find over 195 breweries according to the latest figures furnished by Zythos, 93 beer firms and 5 gueuzeries.

 Belgium has all types and all styles of beers, Blonds, Lambick, Dry, Pale, Ales, and special flavoured ones like berries, called Kriek, Framboise or Geuze.

A specialty are those made in the abbeys, where monks still make the beer, in beautiful Belgian antique abbeys, good food like squared mini cheese platters and other food specialties like dried saucisson or sausage. The landscapes of these Belgian monasteries or abbeys are pretty ancient, some with old ruins. You can step into time and see sometime the brothers or monks walking and working in the berweries…

The history of the “Trappist” terminology

The term “Trappist” is derived from “La Trappe”, a French Abbey located in Normandy. Trappist monks have their origins in France and not in Belgium as many wrongly assume. It refers to the order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, shortly known as the “Trap­pist Order”. Although its origin goes back to the monastery of Cîteaux founded in the XII century in Burgundy, it was not officially final­ized until 1892.
The Trappist monks follow the Trappist order, which is based on the Rule of St. Benedict (6th century).
As time passed, the French state became hostile towards the Cister­cian order and interrupted the development of the “order” during the French Revolution (1789 – 1799). They confiscated the La Trappe mon­astery and closed the religious houses. The Trappist monks were forced to flee France and took refuge in Switzerland, Russia, and Belgium.
On their arrival to Belgium, the French “Trap­pist” monks settled in Westmalle, Antwerp (Flanders). As previously discussed, during a reform in the Trappist Order, the monks could drink wa­ter as well as the regional drink of the peo­ple. The local Belgian drink was not wine but beer. For this reason, and because “Trappist” monks must produce what they consume, the monks began to brew. The first Trappist beers were born at this time.

Since then another 5 Trappist abbeys developed in Belgium all producing beers and still existing to this day. These are Chimay, Rochefort, Orval, Westvleteren and Achel.

So would you like to try some of this fantastic beers and be a beer specialist!

Then travel to Belgium, visit and enjoy its famous drink and foods! You will learn fast as most French Belgians will practice  with you in any bar! Here is a list of the best Trappist beers:

1. Westvleteren 12. Elected several times best beer in the world!
2. Orval. The strong amber that is becoming increasingly hard to find.
3. Chimay Bleu. The super star available everywhere and that connects you to God.
4. Westvleteren 10. The sweeter version of the 12, hard to find!
5. Rochefort 10. The bitter, sweet symphony from the south.
6. Westmall Tripel. First Trappist brewery!  
7. Westmalle Dubbel. Less strong than the Tripel.
8. Rochefort 8. Nice and intense remarkable just as the 10.
9. Rochefort 6. Sweet and easy drink sister. For everybody.
10. Westvleteren Blond. The unusual blond for the Trappist range.

Best,

Cristine

Information is cited from Wikipedia, Google and from Trappist.com, Belgibeer.com, Beertourism.com