Monasteries were the first places where beer was produced on a large scale. They assumed this role at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity, when beer became an essential food - not just a beverage - for the sustenance of religious communities, especially at a time when its consumption was preferable to the often unhealthy water. The monks brewed beer for their own daily consumption, but surplus production was destined for pilgrims, the poor and potential buyers. With the process of secularization, the religious orders went into crisis and lost their leading role in brewing beer. However, their beers did not disappear completely. In fact, beers linked to abbeys and monasteries are still on the market today, although in a different form than in the past. Two names are generally used to designate beer brewed within religious structures: "abbey beer" and "Trappist beer". Both are the fruit of the historical process mentioned above, but have profoundly different meanings, which are often confused or misunderstood.
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