America's Newest Monastic Brewery Opens in Oregon

Does being a monk have anything to do with brewing beer?

I get that the “original” breweries run by monks have tradition and make great beer.

Today I feel these new breweries are just using the “monk” as a selling gimmick.

If I am wrong in this please let me know why and what being a monk brings to the brew table.

Enjoy

 

Good article about a good idea that hits all the right notes for me.

 

No more than tats and beards I suppose, but monks brewing in contemporary America is a cool idea.

 

Certain orders (e.g., the monks of the Trappist Abbeys) have a principle to be self sufficient. One way to do this is to sell products. Beer is an example of a product, cheese is an example of a product, and so on.

Cheers!

 

Every one of those “original” breweries once had no tradition or reputation for making quality beer. Being a monk brings to the table what it always has, an opportunity for the monks to support their Abbey, their community and their life style through their labor.

 

Well they tend to make some damn good beer, so there must be something to it.

 

Absolutely nothing.

Exactly.

 

Well, with just a 5bbl system, they aren't marketing to many folks. They need cash flow to run the monastery, and support their seminary. I doubt they'll be having Hazebros lining up for 4-packs at 7am on a Saturday.

 

Something that hasn’t been mentioned is access to recipes and techniques.
Trappists are cloistered and tend to protect their trade secrets. Even brewing books written about these beers tend to contain a lot of shrugs and dead ends. Training as an apprentice under someone who know firsthand how to make these beers is a rare luxury.

There seems to be an idea that you can’t embrace capitalism and your abbey’s ethos. I say, why not both?!
Are they aware that people associate monks with good beer? Absolutely! Does that make the beer worse or their goals more illegitimate? I’d say no.

 

By my count, it is at least the fourth to open in the US - St. Vincent's brewery of the Benedictine Society, Latrobe, PA - (well, sure, it closed in the late 19th century but still ----).

 

Is Mount Angel a Trappist brewery? I haven’t read the article yet.

The Trappist labeled breweries are required to meet several requirements. As I recall quality is one of the requirements. Self regulation of quality just might be one factor “why being a monk” may make a difference.

 

No.

 

Those are all marketing aspects (small batches especially).

Not everything is mutually exclusive.

 

I figured you'd be the one to remember St. Vincent's, @jesskidden, and was wondering when you were going to bring it up! Incidentally, Father Martin did mention it in our interview.

 

I saw a special years ago on monastic brewing on some travel show.

One of the monks they interviewed said something along the lines of “A brewer at a large brewery has a professional responsibility to brew good beer, a brewer at a farmhouse brewery has a personal one. But a monk has a spiritual responsibility.” It’s part of their life’s mission to produce excellent beer.

Basically, if a monastic brewer knowingly cuts a corner, rushes product, or releases something below their quality standard, they’ve sinned against their vows.

You don’t have to believe what they do to appreciate the seriousness in which they take their work. Whether beer and cheese made by Trappist monks or Mala beads made by Tibetan nuns, when people put their souls into their work, it ups the ante!

Also...
These guys aren’t brewing in catacombs. These breweries are state of the fucking art. Their labs are exceptional, their cellars are pristine, and their tolerances are minuscule. Comparing to the average US brewery is like comparing a brain surgery OR to a garage.

 

I absolutely love this perspective.

 

It is, however, important to know that not all brewers at monastic breweries, including those of the Trappist designation, are monks.

 

I doubt that anybody would join a Monastery and live like a Benedictine Monk just to sell beer!