Sint Sixtus Abdij - Westvleteren

The Westvleteren beer is almost mythical amongst beer connoisseurs.

Brewed by the trappist brothers (yes they brew it themselves) in the

Sint Sixtus Abdij outside Westvleteren, it has won several

International rewards as one off the best beers in the worlds.

The myth is further enhanced by the fact that you can only by the beer directly at the monastery's drive in shop after pre-ordering, and then only three crates per vehicle.

The café next door, In de Wrede (owned by the monastery) sometimes sell a little beer, but only six bottles per person. But most of the time you can at least taste the beer in the café.

When we arrived this sunny Saturday the café was almost out of beer
and did not sell any bottles. But you could order and drink any of the
three Westvleteren varieties on site (Westvleteren 8, 10 and 12).
Which we did. Previously I had tried to contact the monastery for a
visit, but it is known not to accept visitors, not even journalists.

Therefore we are outmost grateful to brother Arnold who was
helpfulness and friendliness personified. He bade us to sit in the
monks kitchen and offered us one of their brews (the 8) while he tried to locate brother Benedict - one of the brewing trappist monks.

Brother Arnold succeeded and we became the very fortunate guests of
the knowledgeable and hospitable brother Benedikt. He showed us around all parts of the monastic brewery and spared no details for us curious visitors. We even had the joy to see some other brothers, including the oldest of the 23 monks at the abbey, and we could visit the church. In the end he offered us a taste of the beautiful Westvleteren 8 (blond).

For beer lovers like us, this is as close to heaven as you can come in
this world :-)


PS.
On the request of Brother Benedikt, I have removed the photos of him and his fellow Brothers.

Abbaye de Scourmont (Chimay)

In the afternoon we continued to Abbaye de Scourmont where the Trappist

beer Chimay is brewed. We had the pleasure of being shown around by

Jérôme Goffinet and then try all four versions of the Chimay.

Rouge is fresh and nice to food, Bleue one of our long-standing

favourites and blanc a powerful and rather sweet triple. New for us,

and most people I would guess, is the d'Or (gold). It is a weaker

blond brewed for the Trappist brothers and the employees at the

monastery, and not sold, with one exception - at the Inn owned by the

monastery, Auberge de Poteaupré, where they serve is as the house beer

on tap.

Afterwards, we joined the Vesper service at the monastery Church in

remembrance of my aunt Wivi who passed away this morning. She became

92, may she rest in peace.

In the evening we checked in to Auberge de Poteaupré and tried the

Chimay cheeses and had some simple but good local food.

Abbaye de Notre Dame d'Orval

A new day and a new monastery!

From Rochefort we drove South trough a beautiful and somewhat wild

landscape to Orval, just on the border to France. This is where you

fins the ancient monastery Abbaye de Notre Dame d'Orval, where the

unique trappist beer with the same name is brewed.

We were lucky enough to have François de Harenne, the manager of the
brewery, as our guide and host. He showed us all parts of the brewery
and shared many interesting facts and stories about this beautiful
beer. Brother Xavier, the chairman of the brewery company (fully owned
by the monastery) also came by to say hello.

Then we finished it all with a beer and a sandwich at the nearby Inn.