The monks at the abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren received far more attention in the last six weeks than they’d like. When they explain they don’t plan to expand brewing despite obvious demand they end up seeing stories with headlines like “More beer? Not a prayer!”

As well as talking to the monks at Westvelteren - yes, the monks are in charge of the brewing - about details such as what temperature they pitch yeast at and the levels of temperature during fermenation I also discussed their philosophy about brewing when I visited the abbey.

To understand, it helps to back up and look for a little perspective. Anneke Benoit, who until recently ran the Claustrum (an exhibition room) at Westvleteren, put it simply: “If there is no monastic life, there is no monastic beer . . . People don’t get that. All the time they want to know why the monks don’t brew more beer.”

Here are some details from Brew Like a Monk:

When the brewery modernized after World War I, introducing two new beers, Westvleteren looked to be on the same (fast) track as other monastery breweries. The abbey owned cafés that sold its beer, and after World War II easily could have chosen to expand. Instead, the abbot decided that too large a brewery would disturb the monastic spirit. As a result, Westvleteren sold all the cafés except the one across the road from the abbey, made a deal to have a Saint Sixtus beer brewed under license, and capped yearly production at 3,500 hectoliters (about 3,000 barrels).

Westvleteren rescinded the contract-brewing deal after modernizing its own brewery in 1989, putting the monks back in control of all beer carrying the Saint Sixtus name. They sell that beer at the inn across the road and at the brewery gates. The beers have no labels; the crowns carry all the required legal information. When customers buy beer at the abbey, the receipt states that the beer cannot be resold. Café owners within Belgium have long been able to acquire limited quantities, usually reselling it for a price not too much more than other Trappist beers. Some owners decorate the bar area with empty wooden crates carrying the Westvleteren stamp.

The monks have no interest in selling their beer through distributors. That an American importer acquired their beer through third parties in the late 1990s, added labels to the bottles, and sold it in the United States runs counter to their monastic ethic. “We do not advertise, we have no publicity,” said Brother Joris, the monk in charge of brewing. “We live on brewing, but we do it so we can continue with our real business, which is being monks.”

Where possible, the monks have gone through legal authorities to choke off sales in the United States. “If we had a label, it would say, ‘Do not import to the United States,’” said Brother Joris.

Although it is the least commercial of the Trappist breweries, Westvleteren still operates with commercial intent; the profits just happen to go to running the abbey and for various charities. However, it remains most closely connected to monastery brewing tradition. Also from the book:

The rhythm of monastic life remains intact in the brewery. The monks brew seventy times a year-twenty-five to twenty-six weeks and two to three days per week-producing 4,750 hectoliters (about 4,050 barrels). They brew one week and bottle the next, adding yeast taken from a high krauesen of an ongoing fermentation. On brewing days, a secular worker drives to Westmalle to pick up the yeast for primary fermentation.

Brother Joris took over the job of running the brewery from Brother Filip in mid-2004. He still operates the monastery library and also deals with accounting matters. Brother Jos supervises brewhouse operations, and another monk does the lab work.

One monk runs sales at the gate, and another aids him. Three laymen work in the brewery and do other jobs at the monastery when they aren’t brewing. Bottling occupies seven monks and the three lay workers.

And one more excerpt from the book:

The tradition of brewing different-quality beers for different customers persisted throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. By then monasteries had only one brewhouse, with the second and third runnings from a single mash used to make a weaker beer or beers. The terms double and triple may have grown from the practice.

Westmalle is the lone Trappist brewery to label its beers that way today, and Westmalle produces its Dubbel and Tripel with separate mashes. Only Westvleteren keeps touch with the custom of Saint Gall. When the monks brew Westvleteren 8 and 12 on the same day, they start with a single mash. Most of the high-gravity first runnings go to the stronger (10.2% abv) Westvleteren 12, while the weaker final runnings fill the kettle for Westvleteren 8.

Why? Brothers Joris and Jos learned the practice from Brother Filip, the previous brewer. “That’s our training,” Brother Joris said. “The knowledge is passed on from brother to brother.”

File that under tradition.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 8th, 2005 at 11:24 am and is filed under Trappists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.