Monastic Brewing in the United States?

This Just In!

From www.ratebeer.com

"-- For Immediate release
Contact: Bill Manley (530) 893-3520
Billm@sierranevada.com

Chico, CA (08/06/2010)—Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. announced a partnership with the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux to create the only authentic Trappist-style Abbey ales in America.

For nearly 1000 years, monks have been brewing ales behind monastery walls. Their closely guarded traditions and techniques produced styles of beer unlike anything else in the world. These unique Trappist-style Abbey ales are known for their uncompromising quality and compelling flavor.

In 2011, Sierra Nevada and the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux are working to bring this centuries-old tradition to America with Ovila—the nation’s only authentic Trappist-style Abbey Ale.

This series of three Belgian -style Abbey ales is made in accordance with the centuries-old tradition of the monks. Each beer will be only be available for a limited time and will rotate through the seasons. The first beer in the series, scheduled for release in March, will be a Belgian-style Dubbel brewed with authentic Trappist yeast. The second beer in the series, scheduled for release in July, will be a Saison, the traditional Belgian-style farmhouse ale made in honor of the Monk’s dedication to labor in the fields surrounding their abbey. The third will be released in time for the holidays. It will be a Trappist-style Quadrupel rich with dark fruit flavors and the unique wine-like characters of these strong Abbey ales.

Proceeds from this project will benefit the monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux in their efforts to rebuild an architectural marvel—a 12th century, early-gothic Cistercian chapter house—on their grounds in Vina, California a few miles north of Sierra Nevada’s home in Chico. The medieval chapterhouse—Santa Maria de Ovila—was begun in 1190, near the village of Trillo, Spain. Cistercian monks lived, prayed, and worked there for nearly 800 years. In 1931, California newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst purchased the abbey and shipped it to Northern California. Hearst’s plans were never realized, and the stones fell into disrepair. In 1994, the Trappist-Cistercian monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux, gained possession of the ruins, and began the painstaking stone-by-stone reconstruction of the historic abbey.

Located in Vina, California, the Abbey of New Clairvaux is a Cistercian Abbey of Strict Observance (Trappist). The abbey was founded in 1955 on 590 acres of Leland Stanford’s famed Vina Ranch. The monks follow the Rule of St. Benedict—Ora est Labora (Prayer and Work) and spend their days in prayer, meditation, and tending to the labor of the working farm located at the abbey.

Founded in 1980, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of America’s first microbreweries and remains highly regarded for using only whole-cone hops and ingredients of the finest quality"

So this is pretty exciting for me, I genuinley never thought the day would come when Trappists would brew in the new world.

Biere Des Moines - Chimay Grande Reserve

I present you oh most appreciated reader with a second installment of my Bieres Des Moines series where we take a peek at beers made under the control of Monks that are available to us here in our fair city.

Known the world over by it's nickname Chimay Blue (or Bleue in it's home country) is perhaps the best known of the Trappist beers. The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont is one of the most well established Trappist breweries in the United States and has been for quite some time. The brewery produces four beers Chimay Red, Chimay Triple, Chimay Doree which like the Petit Orval is basically reserved for the Monk's themselves, and finally the beer we are looking at today Chimay Grande Reserve. Along with these beers the community makes cheeses as well. One of these I'll get the chance to pair with my Chimay Blue today!

The beer it's self is easy enough to find, a trip to stores like Beer Crazy, Ingersoll Wine and Spirits, Sbrocco, and Cyclone Liquors will land you a bottle, and if you're picking up groceries as well, most Hy-Vee locations have it too.

The beer it's self always surprises me. It's one of those old faithful beers I've had time and time again. Now I hardly drink it but a few times a year, and I always kind of wonder why I don't drink it more often. The aroma is fruity and very driven by Chimay's proprietary yeast strain first propagated from the wild from a single cell by Brother Theodore in the 1960's. Other aromas include dark fruit, milk chocolate, a nice nuttiness, and some apple. The aroma shows that at 9% abv this is a strong beer however the alcohol notes in the aroma work well with the rest of the beers olfactory character. The flavor follows with that nice nuttiness, but the fruit is more intense and the chocolaty and almost roasty notes of the aroma are all but forgotten. The beer plays with flavors like Plum, raisin, brown sugar, and some nice floral and alcohol notes. Again showing it's strength my bottle is a fairly fresh one and the alcohol (which fades slightly with cellaring) is strong but in no way unbalanced.

The Cheese is Chimay's Grand Classique which I picked up from Gateway Market is as it has many times been described a very nice match for the beer. The rind of this cheese (I have been told) is washed in Chimay Grande Reserve which of course is a damned elegant touch. The cheese is nutty and creamy with a light earthiness and sweetness. The flavors of the beer and the cheese indeed work well together.

Now go to the store and find some. In all likelihood it's right down the block.

Big Ups To Brianne

When recently asked about the beer culture in Des Moines one of the nicest things I had to say was that the homebrew scene here was "as vibrant, active, and fun as any I can imagine" This week the cover story of The Des Moines Juice was "Brew By You" by Brianne Sanchez and it was excellent.

Now I may be a little biased considering a good freind (Mr Dan Haggerty) was featured on the cover (not to mention that both My wife & another freind Adam Draeger have a feature in the issue) but I think this issue of Juice was chock full of great information on brewing and beer as a whole. Brianne, an admitted newcomer to the subject both learns fast and writes eloquently in regards to both Brewing and good beer. If you've not got a chance to pick up a copy, by all means do so.