Belgian monks revive a brewery after two centuries of inactivity

The abbey, whose emblem is a phoenix with the Latin motto "Ardet nec consumitur", which means "burnt but not destroyed", was ransacked and its brewery demolished in 1795 by French troops.

But the brewing tradition, which dates back to the thirteenth century, will be resumed with the construction of a new brewery in the monastic complex of Grimbergen, a city located north of Brussels. It is expected to produce its first beers by the end of 2020.

"For us, it is important to take into account the inheritance, the tradition of brewing parents, because it has always been there"Father Karel Stautemas told Reuters on Tuesday, a day after the local council approved the brewery plan.

"The brewery and the religious life were always together," said Karel, one of the eleven Norbertine clerics of the Abbey.

After a course at Copenhagen's Scandinavian Brewery School that started this year, he will become one of five or six workers at the new brewery.

Marc-Antoine Sochon, an expert from Carlsberg, who will be responsible for the project's beer production, said the 10,000-hectolitre annual plant aimed to produce limited versions of beer already brewed on a scale under the name of Grimbergen.

"We will keep the same yeast, which will provide the fruity and spicy flavor, and we will start looking for more innovations, such as aging in barrels and dry-hopping (adding hops to already brewed beer and afterwards). fermentation)"Sochon said, adding that some special edition lots could only represent 60 hectoliters.

The Abbey, founded in 1128, is linked to commercial brewers since the 1950s, when local brewer Maes asked the monks permission to use the name and emblem of Grimbergen in their "Abbey beer".

About 1.5 million hectoliters of this brand are currently produced worldwide. Alken-Maes, a subsidiary of Heineken, produces and sells it in Belgium, while Carlsberg manufactures it mainly in France for other markets. In return, the abbey receives royalties.

The project, which will be funded by Carlsberg, aims to use local cultures. The abbey planted hops in his garden. There will also be a reception center.

Although they belong to a different order, the monks of Grimbergen will follow the rules of the Trappist brewers of Belgium, this requires them to brew beer inside the walls of the abbey, to control its manufacture and to allocate the proceeds to the preservation of the abbey and the support of the charitable works .