Five are in Belgium and one, called Schaapskooi at the Koningshoevan monastery, is just across the border in The Netherlands. The Belgian Trappist breweries are Orval, Chimay, Westmalle, Rochefort, and Westvleteren. Trappist beers are regarded as among the finest ales in the world. A few are dry and hoppy like Orval, but most are sweet. All use yeast strains that impart fruity characteristics as well as spicy aromas and flavors.
Some breweries even offer a quadruple.
All have medium to full body. Trappist beers widely available in the United States include Orval, Chimay, and from the Schaapskooi brewery, La Trappe. While only Trappist monasteries have their own on-premise breweries, other orders in Belgium brewed beer in the past. Some of the commercial breweries have no business agreements with any monastery, but simply produce abbey-style ales named after a ruin, shrine or even a local saint. Many of the abbey beers are good, but none are regarded as world class like the Trappist beers.