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The abbey of Saint-Sixtus in Westvleteren is one of the world’s most renowned Trappist brewing communities. And its acclaimed beer is not only in high demand but it’s also tricky to get hold of.
So when the Monks at the Trappist brewery learned that a Dutch supermarket was re-selling its beers without permission, and at a huge mark-up, they jumped ugly!
Here’s the deal…
Trappist Ale from the abbey of Saint-Sixtus in Westvleteren, is treasured by beer lovers around the world…and the fact you have to jump through all kinds of hoops, including a trip to the monastery just to get your hands on a bottle only adds to their cachet.
The brewery only sells these prized beers for personal consumption and it takes special care to ensure that their beers don’t show up on the resale market.
So their recent appearance at Dutch supermarket chain Jan Linders (where the beer was being sold at a huge price increase) was cause for alarm.
Beer sales are tightly controlled and closely monitored daily at the abbey…
According to the Drinks Business “the beer is only sold at the abbey’s shop and a local café and all orders from the shop must be reserved in advance and then picked up in person.”
The abbey also registers all beer pickups at their compound and limits purchases to 60 day intervals…
So they were furious when they learned that the Dutch grocery chain was selling their Trappist beer without permission, Belgian broadcaster VRT reports.
Jan Linders sold around 300 crates with 24 bottles each of the beer for 9.95 euros per bottle and understandably sales were brisk….
“We heard the news through the media, and are shocked enormously”, a spokesperson for the Abbey said to the broadcaster. “We regret that this happened, this is not in line with the values and vision of our community.”
So how these acclaimed ales evaded the brewery’s best efforts and ended up in a major Dutch grocery chain remains a mystery.
And as things stand now…only God knows how this whole thing went down.
