{"id":9789,"title":"A Tale of Two Beers","description":"Two great Belgian beers, one shared history. How did the German army, a hermit, and a religious schism form the stories of the breweries of Westvleteren and St Bernardus?","content":"

Published in<\/strong>: EXPLORE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>

Two great Belgian beers, one shared history. How did the German army, a hermit, and a religious schism form the stories of the Belgian breweries of Westvleteren and St Bernardus?\"\" Two fantastic Belgian beers that share one incredible history<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

The Best Beer in the World?<\/h3>

Search on the internet for \"what is the best beer in the world?\" and the chances are that the Westvleteren XII will be featured somewhere.<\/p>

Westvleteren is an official Trappist beer and the monks of the\u00a0Sint-Sixtus Abbey only brew enough to fund the abbey and their charitable works. As they say, \"We brew to live. We do not live to brew.\". They also control its availability very tightly, limiting sales to private individuals.<\/p>

\"We brew to live. We do not live to brew.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

The monks started a website in 2019 to enable people to place home deliveries, but only if they're lucky enough to live in Belgium. Otherwise, it must be picked up in person from the abbey. It's certainly a very highly rated and sought-after beer. Illicit bottles are said to have sold in Dubai for over \u00a3230 each.<\/p>

And yet, not ten kilometres from Westvleteren lies the brewery that up until 1992 brewed the Westvleteren beer. It's still selling the same beer today but under the name of the St Bernardus brewery. How did that happen? To find out, we need to travel back in time ...\"\" Image credit: Reuben Gray<\/a><\/p>

1831 - The Crisis!<\/h3>

The Abbaye du Mont des Cats describes the events of 1831 as La Crise. I've struggled to work out what really happened as my French is not tres bon. I've been stuck at \"J'ai douze ans\" for the last forty-six years. It appears that a schism occurred, as is often the way in religious circles.<\/p>

It seems it was all to do with money. One monk wanted the money back he had brought with him to the French monastery, but it had all been spent. Father Fran\u00e7ois-Marie and a few others huffed off to what is now Westveleteren in Belgium. Some monks went to the Abbey at Gard and the rest stayed put.<\/p>

\"\"Mont des Cats <\/em><\/strong>Image : <\/em>Pierre Andr\u00e9 Leclercq<\/em><\/a><\/p>

Godewaersvelde!<\/h3>

Abbaye du Mont des Cats is based in the French commune of Godewaersvelde. If that sounds like a Flemish profanity to you, then you're not far wrong. Godewaersvelde abuts the Belgium border in French Flanders where Frans-Vlaams (French Flemish) is still spoken.<\/p>

The Mont des Cats or Catsberg may seem familiar to cycling fans as its climb often features in the Four Days of Dunkirk and one-day classic Gent Wevelgem.\"\" <\/a>Ludo Peeters, Leo van Vliet and Ad Wijnant climb Mont Cassel in the Four Days of Dunkirk <\/em><\/strong>Image: <\/em>Mick Searle Collection<\/em><\/a><\/p>

We don't know quite why, but Father Fran\u00e7ois-Marie and his followers headed for the wood of Sint Sixtus. They joined the hermit Jan-Baptist Victoor, a former timber merchant and hops trader. Jan had purchased land near the chapel of Sint Sixtus around 1815, leaving behind his wife and presumably all worldly goods.<\/p>

Together they established a new order that would eventually become the Abbey of Sint Sixtus at Westvleteren. Poor old Jan-Baptist only survived another year, but ultimately his aim of establishing an abbey in the woods of Sint Sixtus would be realised.\"\"No cycling trip to West Flanders is complete without a visit to St Bernardus Brewery<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

The monks soon started brewing beer for their own consumption and to help pay the bills. The beer of Westvleteren was born. Coincidentally 1831, the year of La great Crise, was the year Belgium gained independence from their Dutch overlords resulting in the birth of the modern state.<\/p>

This might have swayed the monks of the Abbaye du Mont des Cats into moving from France to Belgium. France had just undergone its second revolution and new French laws downgraded the status of the Catholic church and introduced financial constraints upon them.<\/p>

Early 1900s - Watou Old Chap<\/h3>

Our story continues back over the border in Godewaersvelde where the remaining monks at the Abbaye du Mont des Cats were still having a hard time. The relationship between the French state and the Catholic church had been slowly deteriorating resulting in a severing of diplomatic relations with the Vatican.<\/p>

Dom J\u00e9r\u00f4me Parent could read the runes, so he established a bolthole seven kilometres away across the border in Watou, Belgium. Those clever monks called it the 'R\u00e9fuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard', or in other words the refuge of our lady of St Bernard. I have to confess I'm confused by this name and the reason attributed to its use.<\/p>

It's claimed that it was based upon a chapel near Mont des Cats, but the chapel was named after St Constance at the time and was not renamed to St Bernard until 1990. The 'St Bernard' in question was almost certainly Bernard of Clairvaux who established many monasteries and was definitely no lady.<\/p>

1918 And All That<\/h3>

Things got even worse for the poor old monks left at the Abbey in Godewaersvelde when the advancing Bosche thought it would make good target practice. That was enough to ensure all the remaining monks fled to Watou where they, amongst other things, started producing cheese.<\/p>

Trappistenweg<\/strong>, Watou, close to the site of the R\u00e9fuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard and the modern St Bernardus brewery\"\"Trappistenweg, Watou, close to the site of the R\u00e9fuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard and the modern St Bernardus brewery<\/em><\/strong> Image: <\/em>Bernt Rostad<\/u><\/em><\/a><\/p>

1934 - Time to Go Home<\/h3>

By 1934 the situation had improved, the old abbey was patched up and so the monks packed their bags and went home. The cheese dairy was sold to Evarist Deconinck who continued to produce cheese under the brand name Sint Bernardus.<\/p>

1946 - Cheesemaker turns Brewer<\/h3>

Apparently, patron Deconinck was a regular card player with, amongst others, the abbot at Westvleteren. We can only guess at the conversation, but soon a deal was struck whereby the cheesemaker would take over the beer production from the monks of Westvleteren.<\/p>

\u201cOra et labora\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

The abbot was keen to sell beer to raise funds for the abbey but didn't want to be involved in the dirty world of, well, the worldly. He wanted his monks to focus upon 'ora et labora' (prayer and labour) and not 'non lotis autem magni' (the great unwashed).<\/p>

Not only did the monks of Westvleteren supply the recipes and yeast, but also the know-how in the form of Polish lay brew-master Mathieu Zafranski. Eventually, the cheesemaking was sold off and the brewery at Watou produced marketed and sold the beer on behalf of the Westvleteren monks up until 1992.<\/p>

1992 - Another Crisis<\/h3>

Before 1992 it became clear the licence to brew Westvleteren beer was going to end. The monks had decided they were going to join the exclusive Trappist beer club and had to brew the beer themselves onsite. The future for Evarist Deconinck's brewery at Watou looked grim.<\/p>

It was put up for sale but attracted little interest. They couldn't use the Westvleteren or Sint Sixtus brands and their bottles couldn't depict a monk. The brewery was finally sold on in 1998 and has prospered since under the St Bernardus brand name.<\/p>

The St Bernardus brewery adopted a balding character as its logo. They claim he is a spiritual guide and definitely not a monk, so as not to claim any connection with an abbey. As you can see, he looks nothing like a monk.<\/p>

\"\"Honestly, he's not a monk <\/em><\/strong>Image: <\/em>St Bernardus Brewery<\/em><\/a><\/p>

St Bernardus beer is now sold worldwide and in 2018 opened the Caf\u00e9 Bernard on the roof of the brewery as well as a shop and guesthouse. There's also a 'daughter' brewery Kazematten<\/a> in nearby Ieper. We plan to cover these in more detail in a future story.\"\" We asked our spiritual guide, Chris, to give his take on 'St Bernardus' on the roof at Cafe St Bernard<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

And Here's the Twist<\/h3>

Whilst people, especially it seems in America, rave about the Westvletern XII it's probably fair to say that the Sint Bernardus Abt 12 is closer to the original Westvleteren. After all, they had been brewing it from just after the second world war up until 1992. Both are quadruple (quadrupel in Flemish) beers which means they are dark with an alcohol content of about 10%.<\/p>

St Bernardus still use the original recipes and yeast supplied to them by the monks of Westvleteren and the same local water supply. Westvleteren now uses yeast from Westmalle and mains water. In 2021 the St Bernardus brewery celebrated its 75th anniversary.\"\" The rooftop Cafe Bernard<\/em><\/strong> Image: <\/em>St Bernardus Brewery<\/em><\/a><\/p>

Which is better?<\/h3>

In my opinion, these are two fantastic Belgian beers. Comparing one with the other is almost impossible as the taste varies dependent upon the temperature and the food they are served with.<\/p>

Which is my favourite? I'm not going to answer that. It's like being asked to name your favourite child.<\/p>

9 April 2021, Tim Costello.<\/p>

<\/p>

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