Well, obviously you have never heard of trappist beers before or you would realise how stupid your comment was. Quality is not based on the country of origin, all trappist beers come from Belgium except for one which comes from Denmark.
The judgement of quality comes from the history of the beer, and most of the trappist beers have 300 years plus of history, water that comes from abbey springs, yeasts that are cultivars of 600 year old strains in some cases. Some trappists have a history that can be traced back to before the puritans landed on the shores of the Americas.
A final measure of quality, is the ability to cellar a beer, most beers that use commercial yeast strains and often include preservatives cannot be "aged" in a cellar to improve the flavour, in fact keep most beers past their shelf date and they go very very wrong, however most trappist beers can be cellared past 10 years with a noticeable improvement in quality similar to wines.
Beer snobbery isn't about buying an expensive bottle and going "Look ma, I'm a snob" no, beer snobbery is about understanding beer, its origins, its history, and knowing that America has no history or skills to compare with the benedictine monks who have been making this shit for centuries, long before the US was even colonised.
So, "snob" now that you have an education in beer, please, go into the world and experience REAL quality, without paying a stupid fortune for the privilege. I will even give you a leg up, the two absolute "must try" Trappist beers are Westvleteren and Rochefort, both with a very long old history that produce cellerable beers. Also, Chimay are a sell out (ingredient and technique wise), don't bother mentioning them.
Its as insulting as trying to tell me a Californian Zinfandel is an adequate comparison to a French Bordeaux from a respected winery.
theirs isn't 21% abv
so it's entirely different, and nothing you said applies
krusty
you're adorable, i dont care what anyone says