title_body: What's the difference between normal beer and trappist?
upvoted_answer: Trappist beers are all abbey beers, but not all abbey beers are trappist. It's a bit like champagne, it's a protected product name to designate a certain type of classical brewn beers.Trappist is the enumeration of beers brew within the walls of an abbey inhabitted by the Trappist monks of the Tre Fontane. 
  
  Currently (Okt. 2015) there are 11 recognized trappists, of which 10 are actively producing: 
  
  Six Belgian trappists:
  
  
  Chimay 
  Orval
  Westmalle
  Westvleteren (St. Sixtus)
  Achel (St.  Benedictus of the Achelse kluis)
  Rochefort
  
  
  Netherlands:
  
  
  La Trappe (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven)
  Zundert (Brouwerij Abdij Maria Toevlucht)
  
  
  Austria: 
  
  
  Stift Engelszell
  
  
  Italy:
  
  
  Tre Fontane Abbey
  
  
  United States of America:
  
  
  Spencer
  
  
  There's also one aspiring Trappist brewery in the US named St. Joseph’s Abbey.
  
  There are some strict rules to obtain "Authentic Trappiste Product":
  
  
  The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery,
  either by the monks themselves or under their supervision.
  The brewery must be of secondary importance within the monastery and
  it should witness to the business practices proper to a monastic way
  of life
  The brewery is not intended to be a profit-making venture.  The
  income covers the living expenses of the monks and the maintenance
  of the buildings and grounds.  Whatever remains is donated to
  charity for social work and to help persons in need.
  
  
  There are some standardized naming conventions, for instance the Double (orginally used by Westmalle) is a brown ale which has an alcohol level of around 7%. 
  
  The Tripple is another name first used by Westmalle, which are often blond and have an alcohol level of about 8% to 10%. 
  
  For future reference you can always visit the Trappiste website here.