The Trappist, open about three weeks now, is a surprisingly beautiful tavern in downtown Oakland specializing in hard-to-find Belgian beers and nothing else. Its proprietors have gone wonderfully overboard, importing a brand new tap system from Belgium and decorating the narrow space with a beautiful dark wood bar, handsome shiny taps and tasteful wall decor. It’s apparent that they take a lot of pride in their knowledge, their selection and the environment they’ve developed around it. (Drunken Santarchy participants were turned away when they came ’round earlier this month.)
This is not your typical after-work place. The brands on offer taste utterly unlike your neighborhood bar’s outlay — and, critical to understand — these beers are strong. The least alcoholic beer stood at 5.5% (10% more than a Budweiser) and the most topped out at a heavy-duty 11%. That’s over 35% more alcohol content than the most effective malt liquors. So don’t plan to stay for more than two drinks. This is sipping stuff, not gulping.
And don’t count on any TV sports, either. As overheard by the group at the end of the bar: “This is more like a wine bar.” If it’s any indication of the environment, Thelonious Monk was playing and a lively argument was had by patrons over which drummer played on Monk’s Music, while a solo patron at the end of the bar powered through the Sunday crossword — on Wednesday.
The Trappist (Google map)
Reviewed on Yelp
Chowhound report
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