About the name

The Trappist Monks live a modest life of work, prayer,and study. Each monastery is self-supporting and engages in great charitable efforts, most often through the production and sale of a variety of goods, from cheese and bread to clothing and coffins, and always of the highest quality. The monks are not prohibited from the consumption of alcohol; indeed ale was often a staple of their diets, and was the only thing to sustain them through the 40 days of fasting they observed between Ash Wednesday and Easter. To this day, seven monasteries throughout Belgium and the Netherlands are known for producing what is among the finest ale in the world, which was once available only to the monks themselves or the communities surrounding the monasteries. The work of intrepid beer explorers (far grander than us) has brought these fine ales to the entire world today.

The Trappist Punks take our name in the tradition of these fine men in honor of their dedication to the crafting and consumption of the finest beer. As for the modest lives…they can keep all that…hence the “Punks” part. Cheers!

About Hoags

Hogan attended Rutgers University for Computer Engineering and works as a software Engineer in Boston. He dreams of escaping his cubicle to start his own brewery one day, and is currently enjoying a great deal of market research toward that end. For the record he spends as much time reading about beer as he does drinking it. Email Hoags

About Mike

Michael McDonough is an independent research consultant in North America and Asia. Over the past two years, he has advised hedge funds, central banks, broker-dealers and corporations on a range of economic and financial issues. McDonough has worked on Wall Street as an economist, specializing in the U.S. and Latin America. Now, he shifts his focus to beer.  He has traveled quite extensively and can discuss beer from a global perspective. Email Mike