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(Courtesy Trappists Westmalle)
A famous Trappist brewery is facing its possible end due to fewer people in Belgium being drawn to life as a monk.
Here’s the deal…
Trappist beers are beers brewed by Trappist monks, a monistic Roman Catholic religious order that originated La Trappe, France in the 17th century as an offshoot of the strict Cistercian order.
Trappist Monks live a cloistered and contemplative life dedicated to study, prayer and a variety of trades that help afford the monasteries some degree of financial support and sustainability.
And some monks turned to brewing, crafting complex ales behind their walls ales that captured the attention of the world.
But all that could be ending as fewer individuals are being drawn to the monistic life.
In a rare interview Brother Benedikt the abbot of Westmalle Abby (home to some of the most coveted beers in the world, told The Observer: “It must be admitted that the state of most monastic communities is precarious.”
According to the Drinks Business, the “Achel Brewery in Belgium is no longer considered to be of Trappist status since it does not have any living monks working there, despite its beer recipe remaining unchanged.”
“For someone with a true vocation, it is not really difficult [to become a monk] – at least no more difficult, I think, than any other life choice,” Brother Benedikt said. “But religious life is no longer considered important and is seen as mysterious, with a negative connotation.”
Luc De Raedemaeker, director of the Brussels Beer Challenge revealed that Westmalle, is now only one in five Trappist breweries in Belgium alongside Chinatown, Orval, Roquefort and Westvleteren, yet these breweries remain “some of the best in the world”.
“Trappist beer can be anything, De Raedemaeker added. “A Trappist brewery can make a pilsner, it can make an IPA or a tripel. It can make a white beer or whatever you want”
But one thing’s for sure, to officially qualify as a true Trappist beer someone from the Trappist order needs to be involved in the brewing process and in an increasingly secular world less people than ever before are choosing the monastic life.
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