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  • Trappist Beer Is Now Brewed In America

    Trappist Beer Is Now Brewed In America

    Beer connoisseurs worldwide agree that Trappist beer is among the finest in the world. Trappist beer is brewed by Catholic Cistercian monks also known as Trappists, hence the beer’s name. One may not immediately equate monks with beer brewing, but as it turns out, brewing beer is a big deal among Trappist monks. They even have an International Trappist Association that recognizes authentic Trappist beer.

    Eight monasteries, six in Belgium, one in Austria and another in Holland have been making the beer for many years. Starting Jan. 16, they were joined by 63 brothers of  St. Joseph’s Abbey in Boston who are the first Trappist beer brewers outside Europe.  The monks of Spencer, Massachusetts (located an hour west of Boston) had been relying on revenue earned from jams and jellies to support themselves. Now, they have decided to follow the lead of their European brothers by brewing and selling beer.

    The Mass. Trappists beer’s story started 5 years ago when St. Joseph’s sent representatives to Belgium to gather information to learn how they could also make the beer. At first, there was skepticism because no American monks had made Trappist beer before and the European monks had reservations that their American counterpart might “go too big too fast” and compromise the quality and brand of the beer.

    Many members of St. Joseph’s Abbey needed convincing too, as beer brewing is a very costly business venture with a lot of risk involved. However, they moved forward with their plans. With the recommendations of the Belgian monks,  St. Joseph’s built a state-of-the-art brewery and hired a skilled brewing engineer with a bank loan.

    The European monks also helped their American brothers develop a good recipe for the beer. After 20 tests, the Massachusetts monks finally settled on the recipe for Spencer Trappist Ale.

    The newly brewed beer was taken to Belgium by St. Joseph’s Father Isaac Keeley, the brewery director, where it received applause and approval from the Belgian brothers.

    “They approved it unanimously,” he said, “and after the vote there was applause.”

    For now the beer is only distributed in Massachusetts but plans are underway to expand the market nationally and internationally in the future.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Trappist Beer Brewed in America for the First Time

    Five years ago, St. Joseph’s Abbey in Massachusetts sent two monks on a fact finding mission. They weren’t seeking relics or theological insight. They wanted to know more about beer.

    For years, St. Joseph’s, a monastery in Spencer, Mass., about an hour west of Boston, has supported its community by producing and selling a line of jams and jellies labelled “Trappist Preserves.” But spurred by the dual forces of expensive building maintenance and the American craft brewing renaissance, the monks decided to venture into what the Cistercian order is perhaps best known for (other than vows of silence): Trappist ale.

    And so one of the world’s most venerable brewing traditions finally comes to America. Prior to St. Joseph’s, only eight breweries in the world have been authorized by the International Trappist Association to make authentic Trappist beer: six in Belgium, one in Holland, and one in Austria. Accordingly, the European monks who authorized St. Joseph’s were skeptical at first. Father Isaac Keeley, the monastery’s brewmaster, notes that the original skepticism wasn’t just because they were seeking to brew outside Europe, but specifically because they were American; their European counterparts feared that the New Englanders “would go too big too fast.”

    After securing a bank loan to finance the venture, the monks perfected their recipe over the course of more than twenty trial batches. The final recipe, to be marketed as “Spencer Trappist Ale,” weighs in at 6.5% alcohol content and is reported boast a cloudy, golden color and sweet, yeasty notes of flavor. (No word on how the monks disposed of the twenty trial batches.)

    To get the International Trappist Association’s blessing, Father Keeley packed beer samples in his suitcase and flew to Belgium where he made a PowerPoint presentation outlining St. Joseph’s brewing operations. Then he poured the beer. “They approved it unanimously,” he said, “and after the vote there was applause.”

    With the Europeans signing off on the venture, the Massachusetts monks inked a domestic distribution deal. At the outset, Spencer Trappist Ale will only be available in-state, but the brewers have plans to expand nationally and—someday—internationally.

    This past New Year’s Day, the monks tapped a keg for their community, giving many of the monk’s their first taste of the brew. “The keg was pouring beautifully. We had this great head on the beer,” Keeley said, tears in his eyes. “The monks were coming back for seconds at least. And it just struck me . . . in a certain sense we have made it.”

    Amen.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons