Franconian Beer Message Board
REAL Monastery Breweries in Germany |
| Posted by Eric on 2006-09-27 03:21:14 |
| Hey that's terrific information. Thank you very much. I was under the impression that the Trappist breweries in Belgium, while for the most part or, in some cases, entirely staffed by secular workers, were all at least overseen by a Trappist brew master. Is that accurate or have I got that wrong. With regard to my interest in authentic German monastic breweries, I guess the place to begin would be with the legal (if there is one) definition of an authentic monastic brewery. Anyone know if there is such a thing and what it might be? If there is no legal definition then how about a definition generally accepted among experts? Failing that, I guess I would have to come up with something on my own which might go something like: 1. The brewing facility is owned by a religious order and is, at least for the most part, located on grounds owned by the monastery, cloister, or religious organization in question. 2. The brewing process would have to be overseen by an individual whose credentials include membership in the religious order which takes credit for brewing the beer. 3. A significant percentage, if not all, of the monies earned from the sale of the beer go directly to the religious order which takes credit for brewing the beer. In other words most, if not all of the brewing process takes place in a facility owned by a religious order and that facility or most of it is located on property owned by a religious order. The brewing process and decisions with regard to styles and quality is at least governed or overseen by an "authentic" monk or nun or some other similar individual who has made a significant commitment to a religious order. Because monks (or whatever) actually brew the beer or have the beer brewed for them under their supervision for the primary reason of supporting the religious order; the vast majority of monies earned from the sale of that beer go back into the order. What I'm trying to weed out are those breweries who strive to represent themselves as having a monastic connection but are in fact merely entities owned by Interbrew or Heineken or some such organization which rent property from a religious entity, pay a religious entity a small stipend so they can use the name of the religious entity and feature a religious looking logo on the bottle. I welcome anyone's thoughts, comments, observations, etc. with regard to this topic. |