I believe article is behind paywall at WSJ, so I PDF'ed it for you guys. Click attached PDF, below.
Trappist Beers threatened by dwindling membership in monkdom
- Thread starter passedpawn
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I had no idea there is a Trappist IPA. Haha. Stan Hieronymus might have to add that in next edition of his Brew Like a Monk.
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Thanks for downloading that.
cgoldberg3
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Sad, Trappiste ale is my favorite beer style. But I suppose as long as the recipes are faithfully follow by secular breweries we can still get the same product, sans the logo.
Unemployed? Learn to brew like a monk and find a job!
As dwindling as the number of Trappist monks can be, it certainly can never be so low as to jeopardize the beer production if a minimum of planning is made in advance.
These people pray too much and don't think enough about beer and the fact that there is a real Godsend in being an historical brewery. It really shows a scarce understanding of one's own identity.
"Trappist" is obviously not much more than a marketing label, which just requires a little effort to be kept alive. It seems that the little effort is not there at some monasteries-breweries. I cannot believe that they cannot find, in the Trappist "universe" (composed by 176 monasteries all over the world), a couple persons with an interest, or a potential interest, in studying brewing (and cheese-making, liqueur-making, chocolate-making etc.) and getting this task on hand. Just think a few years in advance.
There is nothing really special in a beer brewed with the supervision of two monks or with the supervision of two non-monks. The recipe, the tradition, is important. The rest is brand. If the Trappist monasteries can keep the brand alive, good, I'm glad. If they can't, I don't see a problem at all, provided that they publish the recipe and allow somebody else to brew that beer, with or without the hexagone.
I see as positive that some brewer-monk went to work outside the monastery. Spread the recipe! Publish all the details of the recipe. After that, the link between the monastery and the brewery can be cut without damage. The rose would perfume the same even with another name. Take the hexagone away, the taste of the beer will be the same.
There is no point in creating the hexagon mark - besides backfiring at Leffe and other brewers* - if then the beers heritage is not held alive.
I am frankly disappointed but again, not a big problem, provided that they don't bring the product in the tomb with the label.
* Some of the "other brewers" created in 1999 the "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer" (Erkend Belgisch Abdijbier) logo possibly as a reaction to the Trappist Beer logo in 1997. But an "abbey beer" can be sold with that name even if it doesn't fulfil the requirements of the Certified Belgian Abbey Beer. What I care for is the beer, not the monks
As dwindling as the number of Trappist monks can be, it certainly can never be so low as to jeopardize the beer production if a minimum of planning is made in advance.
These people pray too much and don't think enough about beer and the fact that there is a real Godsend in being an historical brewery. It really shows a scarce understanding of one's own identity.
"Trappist" is obviously not much more than a marketing label, which just requires a little effort to be kept alive. It seems that the little effort is not there at some monasteries-breweries. I cannot believe that they cannot find, in the Trappist "universe" (composed by 176 monasteries all over the world), a couple persons with an interest, or a potential interest, in studying brewing (and cheese-making, liqueur-making, chocolate-making etc.) and getting this task on hand. Just think a few years in advance.
There is nothing really special in a beer brewed with the supervision of two monks or with the supervision of two non-monks. The recipe, the tradition, is important. The rest is brand. If the Trappist monasteries can keep the brand alive, good, I'm glad. If they can't, I don't see a problem at all, provided that they publish the recipe and allow somebody else to brew that beer, with or without the hexagone.
I see as positive that some brewer-monk went to work outside the monastery. Spread the recipe! Publish all the details of the recipe. After that, the link between the monastery and the brewery can be cut without damage. The rose would perfume the same even with another name. Take the hexagone away, the taste of the beer will be the same.
There is no point in creating the hexagon mark - besides backfiring at Leffe and other brewers* - if then the beers heritage is not held alive.
I am frankly disappointed but again, not a big problem, provided that they don't bring the product in the tomb with the label.
* Some of the "other brewers" created in 1999 the "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer" (Erkend Belgisch Abdijbier) logo possibly as a reaction to the Trappist Beer logo in 1997. But an "abbey beer" can be sold with that name even if it doesn't fulfil the requirements of the Certified Belgian Abbey Beer. What I care for is the beer, not the monks
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monkeymath
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Soooo... I guess one of us will have to take one for the team, abandon all earthly possessions - and all but one earthly pleasure - and join a monastery.
I'll still drink it if the quality stays the same
