Tag: Trappist Brewery

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Last 4 Monks

With another Trappist brewery closing, this time Stift Engelszell in Austria, it may be that craft beer fans will see both the high and low water marks of the protected trademark associated with brewing in a monastery.

At Stift Engelszell, the last four monks made the move to another monastery.  It is probably both a victim of changing tastes in not only beer but also in religion.  Second sons are not forced into a career path in theology as in the ye’ olde days and even the term primogeniture isn’t used outside of the odd coronation, here or there.  It is actually surprising that monasticism has lasted as long as it has.

Hopefully the Trappist organization can find a way to save these recipes and maybe revive the brands under a less stringent set of productions.

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Trapp’ed in England


The ranks of Trappist certifed breweries has expanded. And Mount Saint Bernard and the monks living and working in Leicestershire have become the first in the UK added to the tally that stretches from it’s Belgian base to Italy and the US as well.

The first beer from the 12th in line is called Tynt Meadow and is named after the meadow where the monks set down roots starting in 1835.

I would hazard a bet that a future brew is named St. Lutgard’s Day, that is the day that this brewery chose to brew their first batch. Lutgard was known for surviving on bread and beer during fasts.

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One More Trappist?

I saw this on the fabulous Brookston Beer Bulletin site. Jay Brooks writes,“Currently there are seven Trappist monastery breweries authorized to use the “Authentic Trappist Product” label by the International Trappist Association. Six are in Belgium, one is in the Netherlands. It looks like an 8th monastery is applying for authorization to brew beer under the official designation. The monastery of Engelszell Stift has filed an application and expects to be notified of the ITAs decision in 4-5 weeks.

According to Trappist-Beers.com, the Engelszell Stift monastery was “founded in 1293 and needs financial input to recover the old paintings, fresco’s and paintings” and has decided to start a small brewery to raise the necessary funds. It is located a little over 120 miles from Munich in Austria. According to Wikipedia, it’s the only one in Austria and is located in the northwest part of the country known as the Innviertel.”

I wonder how the whole application process is for this designation? Are there check-ups from inspectors? A letter grade like restaurants in California? And most importantly will this open the floodgates to more?