St. Bernardus, the monastic beer not recognized by the ATP Seal

The St. Bernardus brewery has a history that is as intense as it is interesting and eventful, strongly linked to two abbeys, a fact that makes it a monastic beer not recognized by the Trappist seal.

The story really goes back to the beginning of the 20th century, in 1903, when Trappist monks decided to leave the Abbey of Mont des Cats, France, due to anti-clerical policies that forced monks to pay high taxes on their income, and arrived in Watou, a small village on the Belgian border. They called this new home the "Refuge of Our Lady of Saint Bernard," and once settled, these monks dedicated themselves to cheese production to help cover the costs of their activities.

It wasn't until 1934, and thanks to new policies in France that adopted a more tolerant attitude toward religious communities, that this same monastic community decided to cross the border back to their homeland. Before leaving, however, they sold the dairy and cheese factory they had built to Evarist Deconinck, and with them, the right to continue producing Watou cheeses.

Years passed, and it was in 1946 when the Trappist monks of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren, who were located barely 10 km from this farm/cheese factory, found themselves in need of repairing, restoring, and improving their monastery. It was at this point that these monks, who had initially limited their beer production to their own consumption and for sale in 3 nearby bars and restaurants, decided to expand the business, doing so by selling the commercial license for the beer for a period of 30 years to the owner of the farm/cheese factory. This is how the St. Bernardus brewery was born, brewing the same beer that was made in the Abbey, but with the support of a master brewer, Mathieu Szafranski, who brought great advances in terms of techniques, recipes, and even the famous Saint Sixtus yeast.

At the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s, Deconinck sold the cheese factory to dedicate his efforts to the art of hops, and Guy Claus, the husband of Deconinck's daughter, joined the business, which led to a new agreement with the Abbey of Westvleteren to renew the commercial license for another 30 years, until 1992, when it expired for good.

The main reason this license expired is basically due to the creation of the ATP Seal (Authentic Trappist Product), which was born in the 80s and identified those authentic Trappist products* through 3 key precepts:

1. The beer must be produced within the Abbey or in its immediate vicinity.

2. The monks themselves oversee and control the production of the beer.

3. The profits from this business must be used for the needs of the entire monastic community, for solidarity with other Trappist Abbeys, for development projects, and for charitable works.

As you can deduce, the St. Bernardus Brewery did not meet all these precepts, as it was not produced inside the Abbey. This fact finally led to the split between the St. Bernardus brewery and the monks of the Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren.

Since then, St. Bernardus continues to brew beers using the original recipes of the Abbey, but without using its name.

*We will talk about Trappist beers in more depth in another post, as there is a lot to cover.

EXTRA-BONUS!

Would you be able to explain the difference in the characters on the old St. Sixtus labels and the current St. Bernardus ones?

Come on, we'll give you a hint. On the St. Sixtus labels, the character was a monk; on the St. Bernardus ones, it is a...?

If you answer correctly, you win a free St. Bernardus beer with your next purchase.

We have 6 prizes available, be the first to respond!

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