Trappist Ale withstands the test of time
By Noah Davis • Oct 21st, 2009 • Category: Beer News
Something is missing in your favorite Trappist ale, but you won’t notice any difference.
The longstanding Trappist tradition of great beer (we’re talking really long, like more than 300 years long) comes from sticking to impeccably high standards for brewing, as well as brewing for the right reasons. However, with a bigger group of monks growing older than new monks coming in, Trappist breweries like the one in Westmalle Abbey, Belgium are at a crossroads.
Monks at Westmalle are noticeably absent from their $15 million bottling plant nowadays simply due to aging; at 70-years-old, you probably wouldn’t be doing hard labor in a brewery either. Although all the criteria from the International Trappist Association is still being met, brewery director Philippe Van Assche states the obvious when he talks of how the standards for brewing have changed since the process began in the 1600’s.
“You need a lab, there are health standards to meet,” Van Assche told Reuters.
In addition to health codes, just to be considered a Trappist Ale, the beer must meet the following standards:
The brewery at Westmalle has certainly worked up a demand for their craft; they cap production at 12 million liters, or just over three million gallons a year, not too shabby. But as the average age of monks across Europe creeps up to the late 60’s, even the monks themselves have come to admit that some communities could disappear.
“Keeping the brewery going then would not be part of our philosophy,” said Brother Bernardus, abbot of Koningshoeven Abbey. “The brewery is there to serve the community, not the other way round.”
If only all beer made you feel that warm inside. Oh wait…
