Monks Brew The Best Beer In The World?

Unlawyer-At-Large loves a good drink. Having the chance to experience the taste, for instance, of a plethora of the best beer brands from all over the world is one of the little pleasures (with or without guilt) of travel.

With Oktoberfest in mind and the urge to imbibe Munich's popular helle beers like Augustiner and Paulaner tempts the senses, there is one brand Unlawyer-At-Large finds very exquisite, very pleasant to the palate. It is called Trappist Westvleteren 12. Served in a “Trappist” glass or not (of course, Unlawyer-At-Large would always insist on being served with the right glass), this dark and strong beer never fails to exude an intriguing aroma. The moment a sip hits your palate, it is bound to infuse you with a taste of out-of-this-world complexity, which combines the inherent tastes of dates, raisins, cocoa, plum, an unassuming hint of licorice and molasses. It feels delightfully hopped, rich and full-bodied, with an amiable and elegant carbonated mouthfeel. Here are some of the most remarkable flavours that could be associated with the word "beer" that you can ever imagine. The entire tasting experience, for lack of a better word, is simply “divine.”

Unlawyer-At-Large is not exaggerating. A “divine” bottle of Trappist Westvleteren 12 actually came out of a small brewery being run by monks. Yes, Trappist Monks. From Westvleteren in Flanders, Belgium. They are real monks, not businessmen. They are monks interested in prayers and piety, not profits.

The Trappist Order, which originates in the Cistercian monastery of La Trappe (hence, the name “Trappists”), France, like many other religious groups, has brewed beer to fund and support their religious work and help the needy. Monastery-based brewhouses existed all over Europe, but many of them were destroyed during the French Revolution and the World Wars.

There are six Trappist monasteries in Belgium which are found in Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Chimay, Orval (said to be the oldest of the brewing monasteries) and Achel. At the Abbey of St. Sixtus located in Westvleteren, the Trappists have been certainly one of the most active, and they have what is considered the smallest and most private of all the Trappist breweries. They brew three beers, namely, the Westvleteren 12 (strong and dark), the Westvleteren 8 (dark) and Westvleteren Blonde (light), with a 12%, 8% and 6% alcohol content, respectively. At this writing, each crate of Westvletren 12, 8 and Blonde is priced at Euro 33, Euro 27.50 and Euro 22, respectively.

So where can one buy this beer?

One method of obtaining this "divine" beer (though it may not be the easiest or practical thing to do) is to call directly the “beer phone” of St. Sixtus to reserve a small quantity (depending on availability, orders may be limited to a crate or two per vehicle license plate). Then fly to Belgium, hop on a car (the countryside drive is gorgeous), drive up to the abbey at Westvleteren early enough to avoid the queue of snaking cars before the gates open at 10 a.m. to pick up your own order. Try as you might, the monks, who prioritise drive-in visitors, will most likely not sell you any beer if you arrive there without prior reservation hoping to get some. But don't fret. If you get turned away politely by the monks, the In De Vrede Cafe located just right outside the abbey, which serves authentic Westvleteren beers, is open to the public beginning at 10 o'clock in the morning.

And for those who are in North America and don't want to fly to Belgium? Wait for a downtown bar specializing in European beer brands (if you are blessed with infinite patience) to have them flown to US soil. But that is not going to happen easily, even if some bottles find their way to the gray or black market once in a while.

In fact, at Michael & Louise’s Hopleaf Bar in Chicago (a personal favourite of Unlawyer-At-Large), which specializes in beers from “Belgium,” “North America” and “Europe,” the fabled Trappist Westvleteren, which used to be one of the bar’s bestsellers, is no longer available (with the exception of other abbey-style ales). The menu of Hopleaf Bar explains that the Monks of St. Sixtus no longer wanted to operate a commercial brewery, preferring to brew and sell just enough to support themselves—only in restricted quantities at the monastery, just a few hours a week, only to individual customers—who must register in advance by phone and promise not to sell to others!

Even if you visit another bar elsewhere in the world which specializes in European or, more particularly, Belgian beers, you may not find a Trappist Westvleteren easily. The explanation offered by Hopleaf Bar would be the same explanation wherever you go. Which is understandable. St. Sixtus only employs a very small number of workers (as little as 3) who are not members of the abbey. The Trappist Monks want their beers to be available in the area of West Flanders for local, private consumption and they have consistently made it known they are not going to endeavor into any form of increased production. The yearly production of 60,000 crates (each wooden crate holds 24 bottles) a year is done in 75 days by five of the 28 members of the monastery. The bottling line dates from 1978, runs only 35 days a year and can fill 12,000 bottles an hour. One can only hope that some unscrupulous persons buying the beers for resale in other areas and countries will not cause the limited inventory to sell out too quickly with the use of bottle “labels” not authorized by the Trappist Monks themselves (it is noteworthy, by the way, that the bottles have been sold without labels since 1940s, leaving all of the beverage's logo and legally required information printed on top of the beer crown).

The Trappist Monks, who maintain that the specific list of malts and ingredients in the Westvleteren 8 and 12 is classified, admit that the rarity of their craft beers certainly contributes to an aura which is nothing short of “mystical.” Unlawyer-At-Large couldn’t agree more. The combination of mystical aura and exquisite taste convinced beer aficionados around the world to rank the Trappist Westvleteren 12 the No. 1 spot in the Best Beers In The World Overall For 2007 by Ratebeer.com, which posted the results of its competition based on a tally of over 1 million reviews of 59,000 beers from over 7,300 brewers worldwide. The Trappist Westvleteren beers similarly rate high in Beeradvocate.com.

Despite the well-deserved worldwide accolades earned for their “divine” beer and the unexpected increase in demand generated even without marketing, the Trappist Monks have eschewed media attention and have remained focused on their true religious calling.

A Trappist Monk was once quoted to have said: “We brew to live, but don’t live to brew.”

To that, I say: Amen.