Saw this on Facebook this morning: https://www.tvl.be/nieuws/limburg-verliest-met-achel-zijn-enige-authentieke-trappistenbier-112013 Probably more of a technicality than anything else, but Achel might be my favorite (former) Trappist brewery.
Here's the translated blurb via Google: "Limburg has lost its only authentic Trappist beer with Achel. De Kluis loses its prestigious label because no more fathers live there. The beer can no longer be called authentic if Trappist fathers do not supervise the brewing process. As a result, our country has only five authentic Trappist beers and our province has zero."
With the loss of Shelton Brothers, they lost their importer too. And by losing their Trappist designation (assuming the above is true), I bet they look far less attractive to any potential future importers.
Not really a technicality. Can't honestly call it a trappist brewery if you no longer have any trappist monks involved in the brewing.
Blimey, I had Achel Brune only a week ago or so and called it a Trappist beer. True. Sad but true. Ah well. Does that mean the beers they brewed will suffer quality wise? No idea.
Technicality in that they can still brew the exact same beer the exact same way only there are no monks on the grounds.
Likely unexpected since they just did a rebranding last June (https://belgianbeers.co.uk/beer-blog/a-brand-new-label-for-the-achel-trappist-beer/) that had trappist on the label. No doubt the beers will be the same high quality. My understanding is that the trappist order has something like a copyright on the use of the term “trappist” regarding breweries and beer so they'll still be able to do everything exactly as they're doing now, just without the using the word trappist.
If I am correct this might change their business model and/or balance sheet possibilities. It is my understanding that Trappist breweries do not turn a profit from their product, but produce and sell only enough to cover annual expenditures. So, are they now not just a commercial brewery free to produce as much as they can/wish and profit from it?
Perhaps, but as long as they keep the same quality, I wouldn't expect a significant drop off in sales. I would compare this situation more to St. Sixtus' beers brewed commercially by St. Bernardus. Now 75 years have passed, and there is still a perceived higher value in terms of Westvleteren 12 vs. St. Bernardus Abt 12, at least by the limited number of craft drinkers who actually scalp / purchased scalped beers, but I wouldn't necessarily expect a significant drop off in beer sales. This is also my understanding based on what I have read. A Trappist brewery could sell for profit beyond their expenditures, but all profits not used within the monastery was to be donated to other charities.There may be a financial arrangement where the commercial brewer compensates the monastery for use of the existing brand name and beer formulas.
Haven’t seen it on shelves locally in a long time unfortunately. Certainly one of the less recognized of the Trappist breweries but easily just as good, if not better than Westy and Rochefort. Hope their beers continue to be brewed.
Per what I'm reading online, I guess they're turning the Pretty much! Although, apparently at Westvleteren the monks are part of the actual brew staff. They're literally the only one in Belgium where they're that hands on. At the others they basically just oversee things and are closer to final QA/QC. Not sure about the other spots like Engelszell or Tre Fontane, though.
Officially Achel is still a Trappist Beer. It's still brewed at the abbey, which is supervised by Westmalle. They just lost their ATP-label, because there aren' any Achel monks involved (there aren't any). For instance, Mont des Cats never had the label, but it is an official Trappist Beer, since it is brewed in Chimay, and the profits go to the Mont des Cats abbey or charity
This got it, although the distinction between "officially" and "label" might confuse some. Just to clarify, ATP stands for Authentic Trappist Product, the label that the order devised for itself. It feels strange to speak of something as being "officially" X but not labeled as such (again, by the same religious order). But Achel can continue to be brewed just the same. I can't imagine the brand disappearing — it is a grocery-store staple, here — or see why the quality would have to change. (Mont des Cats is also really good, BTW.) As some noted above, it could also be relabeled if they just have a monk in a position of oversight — doesn't need to be in any brewing capacity, never mind mashing in.
That Achel literally straddled the Dutch/Belgian border always amazed me. Achel Extra is still one of the best beers I've ever had. It is/was years ahead of the brewing world. A vinous beer that is worth sipping and thinking about, over and over.
More worried about the long term repercussions on this, Monks wont live for ever no more than we will and this exquisite beer is in danger of joining the dodo into extinction, what Trappist brewery is next?
