monastery beers

I am not a rock star, but I will play one for a few hours at GABF

Troubadour Pevec, about to help make a tripel to be served at AHA Headquarters at GABFI promise you, I am properly embarrassed.

I will be among the “homebrew rockstars” pouring beer Oct. 11 at the Great American Beer Festival. Pouring a tripel that American Homebrewers Association director Julia Herz and I brewed in the festival hall will be fun. The part that makes me blush is being called a rock star.

Perhaps I should explain. Homebrew Headquarters for AHA Members takes the place, so to speak, of the annual homebrewers convention (also known at Homebrew Con). John Holl talked to Herz about the hiatus for an All About Beer podcast. It is fair to admit the decision was not universally positive. There are many things about a three-day conference that homebrewers truly enjoy.

I understand, but for a homebrewer there will be worse places to be Oct. 9-12 than Denver. Here’s the full lineup of AHA events, starting with Club Night Oct. 9. And there is way too much new at the festival itself to try to describe here.

The photo at the top is from the day we brewed the tripel at her house. That’s a bag of Pevec from Troubadour Maltings in Fort Collins, Colo. So there is more to explain. When Julia asked me to participate in HQ at AHA I suggested we brew a tripel in collaboration. I wrote the recipe in 2005, not long after I visited Belgium’s six (at the time) monastery breweries, plus a few others, while doing the research for “Brew Like a Monk.”

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A dubbel recipe for Learn to Homebrew Day

Learn to Homebrew Day is next Saturday (Nov. 4). The nationwide celebration aims to “demystify the art of homebrewing and provide valuable resources.” The American Homebrewers Association has all the details as well as two SMaSH beer recipes.

In that spirit, I’ll post recipes here the next four days, one from each of the books I wrote for Brewers Publications. The first comes from the first of those four, Brew Like a Monk.

Lost Abbey co-founder Tomme Arthur, who was at Pizza Port Solano Beach when BLAM was released, contributed this recipe for a Belgian-style dubbel.

“The depth of a great abbey beer lies in a malt sweetness, combined with an alcoholic warmth and yeast finish,” he said at the time. “All of these make a rounded product that can be consumed in greater quantities. The key to a great beer, no matter the style, is the role yeast plays in development of flavors — in lager beer, smooth crisp flavors; in Belgian styles, a wider palate of flavors but homogenized so no one completely dominates the beer.”

The malt bill leans in to that. “(It) is very complex and has specific requirements and components,” he said. When I think of these beers, I think of rich, toasted caramel with a fruity essence, and rocky head. These beers are magical in their complexity. My personal preference is to brew this type of beer without the use of chcolate (malt), as I find it more often than not is used at too high a level. Most dubbels are rich in both aroma and flavor . . . This complex grain bill with many aromatic malts ensures a killer aroma and satisfying beer.”

Original Gravity: 1.067 (16.4 °P)
Final Gravity: 1.014 (3.6 °P)
Alcohol by Volume: 6.9%
IBU: 15

Grist Bill:
Belgian Pilsener malt 58.8%
Wheat malt 8.4%
Belgian aromatic malt 6.7%
Belgian or German Munich malt 4.2%
CaraMunich 3.4%
Gambrinus Honey malt (substitute-CaraVienna) 3.4%
Belgian Special B 3.4%
Belgian Biscuit 3.4%
Dark candi sugar/syrup 8.4%
Raisins (end of boil), comparable to 4 ounces for a 5-gallon batch (113 grams for 19 liters)

Hops:
Styrian Goldings, 90 minutes (11 IBU)
Liberty, 60 minutes (4 IBU)

Mash: 152°F (67°C)
Boil: 90 minutes
Yeast: White Labs WLP500
Fermentation: Start at 64°F (18°C) and let it free rise, 5-7 days
Secondary: Cold condition for 2 weeks

TWTBWTW: Low visibility for beer business 2023

How are things looking for beer in 2023?

I’m OK if posts related to “Dry January”™ don’t continue to arrive at the same pace as they have in the first week of the year. They start to get repetitious. I expect this will be the only one I link to, unless I spot one even more striking.

– DRY INFIDELITY: On having a beer break in January

“You don’t know the story behind somebody desiring a break from beer in January. It may be that they have concerns for their own drinking patterns. It may be for financial reasons, especially after the pressures and expense of Christmas. It may be for fitness reasons as there are plenty of calories in this stuff, despite what people argue. It may be for mental well-being to have a break from a known depressant.

“Or it may be for any other reason unbeknown to others. It is a personal choice and everybody has the right to make it.

“But I’m tired. And I’m bored. And I’m sick to death of the irresponsibility of people within this industry. I’m tired of the shaming and guilt tripping online by people in this beer bubble and community being far too flippant about the mild poison that they peddle.”

You might also enjoy

– The pub with no internet. So that would mean no Untappd, right?

– Firestone Walker Wookey Jack and the State of Black IPA. I didn’t know you could write about the history of Black IPA without mentioning Greg Noonan.

– They Meet Up in Motels Across America…to Trade Old Beer Cans. This is not new, but it showed up in a collection of stories about collections. It reminded me to look and see of a story I wrote about “Beer Dave” for All About Beer is in their growing archives. It is, although my byline is not.

– 6 Beer Industry Trends to Watch in 2023. No. 6: “Taprooms Will Become Attractive Interactive Hubs.” Yes. Disc golf at Live Oak Brewing in Austin, Texas.

– Speaking of trends. The Wall Street Journal had two stories about beer this week. As the headlines (The Huge Number of Small Breweries Creates a Beer Glut and Beer Sales Drop as Consumers Balk at Higher Prices) suggest they were less than optimistic. The posts are behind a paywall, but there is an option. I read the print editions at my local library.

Brewing Italian style

All three books in Brewers Publications’ Belgian series are now available in Italian. They join books previously translated, such as How to Brew and Tasting Beer. Translators are now at work on the Brewing Elements Series, so look for Luppolo one of these days.

The Session #91: A monastery moment

Courtyard at Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren

The Session Oops. The “Session #91: My First Belgian” snuck up on me, and I must finish a presentation on “Brewing Belgian IPA” and be on the road to Kansas City. So for the third time in the seven-plus years of The Session I’m going to repeat a story from “Brew Like a Monk.” It was the first time I thought about abbey beers in the way I do now. The story is from Achel, and the photo from Westvleteren. For newer material, check the links Session host Breandán Kearney at Belgian Smaak is accumulating.

Inside the brewery café at the monastery of the Saint Benedictus Abbey of Achel, only a single food server and one monk putting items on his cafeteria tray remained when Marc Beirens opened the door and stepped into a chilly December evening.

Beirens, a businessman who has been visiting monasteries since he was a child, took a few strides into a terrace area that was once the abbey’s courtyard. As the sky above turned from dark blue to black, he nodded back toward the brewery, located in a space that once housed the monastery dairy, then to a new gallery and gift shop to his right. Those buildings held pigs and more cattle, before it became obvious agriculture would not sustain the community.

“You should have seen this all a few years ago,” he said, his voice bouncing lightly about an otherwise silent courtyard.

*****

During the next few hours Beirens and Brother Benedict, the monk in charge of marketing when I visited in December of 2004 gave me a complete tour of the monastery and its small brewery. Always a good host, Brother Benedict insisted I try the beers.

Staring with Extra, a substantial 9.5% beauty served from a 750ml bottle. He didn’t drink himself, talking a little business with Beirens, answering my questions about the monastery, and excusing himself after his cell phone rang. He returned a little later. “This is the same bottle?” he asked, knowing the answer was yes. “You don’t like the beer.” He laughed mightily.

He ordered we have another, then headed off again. Both Beirens and I ordered the Achel 5, a blonde beer of 5.3% abv, and compared it to the 5% abv Westmalle Extra. When Brother Benedict returned, he looked at our blonde beers, working on a scowl. He took a sip of one. “Water,” he said, once again laughing.

*****

Beirens appreciates the importance of commerce to the monasteries, and that the six Trappist breweries are part of a larger family. He distributes a range of monastic products — beer is the best selling, but they include cookies, soap, vegetables, wine, and other goods — throughout Belgium and France. His father did the same. “I’ve been visiting monasteries since I was this high,” he said earlier, holding his hand below his waist. That’s why he understands something else about monasteries.

It was dark now, and the courtyard empty.

“I love the silence,” Beirens said. “I used to have a friend who was a monk. He’s gone now.”

We walked along in silence.

“When he was 80 or so, I’d still call him. If I had a problem I could go see him. He didn’t have to say anything and I’d feel better.

“All it took was silence.”