Why do monks brew? To turn a profit

A fine job in the Philadelphia City Paper of explaining why bars raised the price of Chimay White.

Blame the weak dollar, among other things.

Although the story is very well done, it contains one line that gets repeated too often: “the Trappist monks who oversee Chimay do not produce and sell beer for profit.” Yes, they do. But they don’t spend the profits on wine, women and song. These figures are from Brew Like a Monk so aren’t totally up to date, but you’ll get the point:

Including the brewery, bottling plant, and marketing, eighty-two people work for Bières de Chimay. Chimay began producing cheese in 1876, bathing the rind of one in beer, and now sells Chimay cheeses in many countries. Overall, Chimay employs more than one hundred and fifty people, making it one of the biggest employers in one of Belgium’s poorest regions. A part of the profits from brewing and cheese production go to help or build other Cistercian monasteries, with the rest dedicated to various projects in the area of Chimay.

If the monks weren’t turning a profit then there wouldn’t be much point in brewing.

 

The Session #31: Summer beers

The SessionWhere did the summer go?

Another Session tomorrow (Friday) and the theme is “summer beers.” Peter Estanial, of the Better Beer Blog, plays host and has the details.

With the summer coming to a close, what was your favorite beer of the summer? It doesn’t even have to be from this summer. Is it a lager or maybe a light bodied wheat ale? Maybe you’re drinking anti-seasonally and are having a barleywine or Russian Imperial Stout. Why is this beer your favorite? Is there a particular memory associated with this beer? How about a city? Maybe there was a particular dish that made this beer memorable? Spare no detail.

This should be a popular one — I see readers already posting names of beers in Peter’s comments — although given my devotion to meeting deadlines I don’t know if I’ll be participating. I guarantee you that with the weather here in New Mexico still ticking well into the 80s (mid-20 C) I will be wishing I was drinking wheat beers as well as writing about them.

 

Some things are worth the trouble

From Josef Schneider, owner and brewer at Brauerei Gasthof Schneider in Essing, Germany, quite close to better known Private Weissbeierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn but totally unrelated.

Why does he bottle-condition all his hefeweiss rather than offer some of it on draft as well?

“It’s like sex and Champagne, worth the bother.”

Oregon Bounty: Enter to win

Travel Oregon has announced a “Cuisinternship” contest, which is really seven contests. Despite the tongue-twisting name any would be nice to win. Requirements include a video camera and a Twitter attention span.

The prizes: Seven winners will get to hang out with an Oregon culinary personality in a week-long cuisine-internship. The winner of the Brew Master category will spend time making beer with Jamie Emmerson of Hood River’s Full Sail Brewery. I pass that along because the information was in my personalized press release. Insider tip: Go for the cheese/chocolate combo. We visited both those places during our Grand Adventure.

To enter: Applicants must submit a short video, along with a statement of 140 characters or less explaining why they are the best candidate for their dream job.

Here’s the link.

I’m not entering or I wouldn’t be telling you about this.