Ale and Hearty : Ageing Trappist Monks Brew On

27 October 2009

Global news-giant Reuters recently ran a brilliant feature on Trappist brewing and, most notably, on the Westmalle Abbey in light of their substantial investment in a £9.2 million state-of-the-art bottling plant.

Monks may no longer show up on the factory floor at Westmalle, but they ensure its marketing is earnest and have capped production at 120,000 hectolitres (12 million litres), making it the second largest Trappist brewer, after Chimay.

Trappist beers have acquired a high profile over recent years: aside from the high quality of the product, it has been shown that beer-lovers also warm to the fact most of the profit goes to charitable projects.

However, the crux of the article was the concern that many of the Trappist monks were now well into their 60s or 70s and that the art of brewing could, potentially, be dying out.

"Keeping the brewery going would not be part of our philosophy," said Brother Bernardus, abbot of Koningshoeven Abbey in the Netherlands, where monks still prepare gift packages of its La Trappe beer. "The brewery is there to serve the community, not the other way round."

It's a great article and well worth a read.