Westmalle Beer Enters The General Marketplace

In 1921, Westmalle beer moved beyond small-scale abbey-gate sales and entered the general marketplace. The Oxford Companion to Beer describes this as the first time beer from Westmalle Abbey was offered in the general market, while other beer-history sources describe the same step as the release of Westmalle beer into wholesale distribution. This shift followed the disruption of World War I, when monastic life and brewing in Belgium had been affected by occupation, exile, and the removal of brewing materials. Wider distribution turned Westmalle beer into a more public Trappist product and helped set up the later expansion of the brewery in the early 1930s, when Westmalle became especially influential through its Dubbel and Tripel.