What are the best Trappist beers?

rochefort 10

Westvleteren 12 is amazing but you generally can't get it in the US.

Westmalle Dubbel is a close proximation to Westy 12 as they supply the yeast to Westvleteren and Belgian beers are all about yeast.

Orval is an amazing Brett beer.... The first Brett I ever had when I didn't know what Brett was.

On the other end of my rankings would be maredsous.... They aren't quite what the other trappists are but still good.

Trappist beers are an amazing rabbit hole to fall down. The "best" have mostly already been covered, but if you're trying to get into the game, I find Chimay Bleu (the one with the blue label) to be a nice entry level Trappist that is extremely easy to find.

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I don't know how common it is, but some Benedictine monks are opening a brewery this spring in My. Angel, OR. I am looking forward to trying it. They've been brewing for some time on a small scale.

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I know they have one in Spencer, Massachusetts for some years now.

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There are only 11 trappist breweries.

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There are actually only 6. tduecen listed them above.

My favorites are:
Orval - very unique in that it's bottle conditioned with brett.
Westvleteren 12 - very difficult to obtain because it's not exported but worth it to try to get.
Westmalle Tripel - this is the prototypical tripel in my opinion.
Westmalle Dubbel - similar to Westy 12 but lighter in alcohol (however this is relative -- dubbels are still strong beers).

Not really a fan of Chimay. Rochefort is good but every beer they make, I prefer Westmalle's version of it.

Good to know.