Stan Hieronymus

About those reports of more Westvleteren beer

News last week that Abbey Saint Sixtus, the Trappist monastery at Westvleteren in Belgium, might boost production of its much-cherished beer and sell it through supermarket channels led to the consumption of considerable bandwidth on beer discussion boards.

Perhaps some of the questions not addressed by that story were answered in the various threads, but not in the few I had time to read. And I didn’t see a mention of the report from Danny Van Tricht in September that the abbey had installed new lagering tanks. Gee, doesn’t that make you wonder just how much more beer Saint Sixtus might brew?

I don’t have a definitive answer, but an email response from Brother Joris — the monk in charge of brewing at Saint Sixtus — would indicate “not much” and even that won’t be on a permanent basis.

He explained, “I am not allowed to give away more details on the matter, as it should be a surprise.”

He wrote that the reports the brewery would sell beer away from the monastery are not correct, adding, “We remain faithful to our sales policy and we have no intention of opening a second channel for the distribution of our beers in the way suggested by the media.” He indicated the monastery is considering a one-time special project (that would not last for long) to raise additional funds for construction work on the cloister.. “This will however not come down to ‘Westvleteren being for sale in the racks of a supermarket,'” he wrote.

He further explained that the new tanks make the production schedule more flexible, so that brewing needn’t be delayed because beer in the lagering tanks isn’t ready for bottling. This makes it possible to produce a fixed quantity each year (currently that might vary between 4,200 and 4,750 hectoliters a year — comparable to about 3,600 to 4,000 U.S. barrels).

Digression No. 1: Stephen Beaumont has asked what will become of Westvelteren’s cult status should they become easier to buy. The notion — not Mr. B’s, should there be any confusion — that the Saint Sixtus beers might be “dumbed down” is laughable. By adding lagering tanks the monks assure that beer will not be hurried out the door. When I visited the brewery in 2004, Brother Joris explained that the 8 usually lagers four weeks but that the 12 might take two months to ten weeks, “when you get a difficult one.”

If the monks at Saint Sixtus wanted to ramp up production they already could have. The thoroughly modern brewhouse installed in 1989 could crank out a lot more wort, and the squares for primary fermentation sit idle more days than they are used. Plenty of breweries around the world have shortened lagering or aging times to meet growing demand.

Digression No. 2: In cruising through discussion boards I saw it suggested, and I’m paraphrasing, that “the monks should brew more beer to raise more money for the poor.” How come nobody finishes that sentence with what they are really thinking? “. . . and make it easier for me to buy their beer.”

In fact, larger monastery breweries, notably Westmalles and Chimay, help support other monasteries, multiple charities and local economies. Chimay, with 150 employees in its brewery and cheese making facility, is one of the largest employers in one of Belgium’s poorest regions. Westvleteren sells its beer in wooden crates (pictured at the top) manufactured in a “shielded workplace” for those not able to work in a mainstream environment.

But that’s not why they brew. Monks — Benedictine, Cistercian and Trappist — live by the rule of Saint Benedict, written about A.D. 530. Among other things, it calls on monks to be self-sufficient through their own labor.

Brother Joris puts it quite well: “We live on brewing, but we do it so we can continue with our real business, which is being monks.”

 

Yep, Olde (or Old) English has always sucked

That Olde English 800 3.2 tops the list of the world’s worst beers at Rate Beer got a little press this past week, but that Olde English 800 sucks hardly ranks as news. Even if it does have its own Facebook page.

Back in 1978 James Robertson gave Old English (note the difference in spelling) 800, the version brewed at Ortlieb in Philadelphia, a hefty 12 in The Great American Beer Book. Not the worst (Fischer Pils received a 4, and there were many in single digits), but poor by any measure. And these numbers were earned in carefully conducted blind tastings (multiple tasters, highest and lowest scores tossed out, various adjustments made).

I wouldn’t have bothered were it not for the opportunity to pass along this drinking note: “One of the beers more like a ‘pop’ wine, strong aromatic flavor that is overdone. Too sweet for a beer drinker. Nor can I think of any food that would go with it.” (Not even a food pairing could save it, Alan.)

Nonetheless MillerCoors has seen fit to keep it alive, and to even brew it to a variety of strengths. You can have my invitation to that blind tasting.

Some questions for ‘gypsy brewers’

So last week when we gathered around the campfire to sing Kumbaya and drink beer made by “gypsy brewers” was that Joe Stange singing out of tune? He suggested we might might ask these guys who’ve been getting some pretty sweet press, “So, um, since your beer’s so good . . . when are you going to start your own brewery?”

For the record, he pointed out Stillwater Ales, with the help of friends, is putting excellent beers in the glass. I haven’t had any of those, but I have enjoyed a couple of offerings from Pretty Things that were just terrific. Additionally, brewer/owner (but not brewery owner) Dan Paquette has spent nearly 20 years proving just how much he really cares about beer.

But I’m a simple guy. I like the idea that there’s a rhythm to every brewery. Not the same at Abbey Saint Sixtus in Belgium — where monks brew two to three batches every other week &#151 as at Bell’s in Michigan, where brewers in three separate shifts might drop 16 mashes in a 24-hour period. But a rhythm. If somebody isn’t in the brewery almost every day, maybe even cleaning filtering or mopping up after a boil over, is that brewer part of the rhythm?

Isn’t it easier for a brewer who owns his or her own kit to ask for malts made with particular varieties of barley or to have met the guys who grow their hops? OK, not all of them can or bother, and you may not think it even matters. I do.

Nothing simple here. Nobody wants to bad mouth quality beer or good-guy brewers. But I’m glad Joe Stange asked.

Someone’s drinking, Lord, kumbaya.

 

Is this what it takes to run a brewery?

How much does this tell you?

The quote appears on Page 95 of Dethroning the King: The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch and comes for Charlie Claggett, an advertising guy. That’s the context.

“I think he (August Busch III) genuinely wanted to pass it down to his son, but I think his son wasn’t up to it. August used to say, ‘You’re thinking with your heart and not your head.’ And I think that was the weakness his son had. He just did not have the cutthroat willingness to cut somebody off at the knees if he had to, which is the way you have to run a brewery. Because let’s face it, anybody can brew beer. It’s just a matter of who has the most money and power, and who is willing to do what it takes.”

What a paragraph.

Bottled beers types and categories (1977)

Beer Tasting and Evaluation for the AmateurIn 1977, the same year Michael Jackson wrote The World Guide to Beer, Fred Eckhardt and Itsuo Takita published a somewhat smaller tome.

Beer Tasting and Evaluation for the Amateur wrapped everything up in a modest 16 pages. As you can see, it was printed at a local copy shop. In the preface they wrote their goal was to “get the ball rolling.” The bulk — if such a word is appropriate in something this size — focused on flavor, evaluating that flavor and providing a score (based on a 20-point scale, somewhat different than the one that appeared in Eckhardt’s Essentials of Beer Style in 1989) for each beer.

Quite honestly, I had forgotten I had this. It toppled off the shelf when I reached for Essentials to see how many styles Eckhardt had cataloged in 1989 (38, in fact).

Because the pamphlet also included a list of “bottled beers types and categories” that some might call beer styles, and because styles are certainly the topic of the week, with hopes I’m not violating the copyright . . .

I. PALE OR LIGHT COLORED BEERS
A. Low Alcohol Beers.
B. US-type Pale Beer.
C. Malt Liquors.
D. European Continental type lagers.
E. English type ales.
F. European top fermented beers, except class R.
G. Amateur pale malt extract beers.
H. Amateur pale beers, 50% or more grain malts.

II. BROWN OR DARK BEERS
I. U.S. type dark beer.
J. Continental European type dark beers.
K. Strong Ale – celebration ales or beers (over 6% alcohol by weight).
L. Brown Beer.
M. Porter.
N. Stout.
O. Amateur dark malt extract beers.
P. Amateur dark beers, 50% or more grain malts.

III. OTHER BEERS.
J. Still malt beverages.
R. Lactic Acid Beers.
S. Miscellaneous hopped beers.
T. Original rice beers.
U. Other beers not included in the above.

The list totaled three classes, 21 types (4 of them amateur) and 85 categories (examples to follow).

The number of categories in a type varied, as did the detail about each. English type ales (E.) was pretty typical.

E. English type ales. English hop bouquet (Bullion, Fuggle, Golding). Color light straw to dark amber. Pale ale isn’t.

1. English best bitter. Intense, impressive or pronounced ale character, 4.6% /w; 4.8-7.2% /v alcohol. Bass Pale Ale. Whitbread Pale Ale.

2. English Mild Ale. Pronounced, noticeable or mild “ale” character. 3-4% /w; 3.6-4.8% /v alcohol. Rainier Ale.

3. U.S. stock ale. Intense, impressive or pronounced hop and “ale” character, alcohol over 5% /w; 6% /v. Rainier Ale.

4. U.S. mild ale, pronounced, noticeable or mild hop and ale character, 3-4% /w; 3.6-4.8% /v. Color straw to amber. Ballantines Ale.

The authors write, “There are undoubtedly errors in placement of description. We would appreciate correction, and additions.” But it was an interesting first version, saying much about the state of beer in the United States at the time (600 brands available, including 110 imports).