| Belgians are an eccentric bunch. Whereas in North America, bikini-clad bombshells sell beer, in the parallel Belgian beer universe, divine and religious images, such as monks, are used to push suds. In Belgium there are at present more than 35 breweries making so-called divine abbey beers – and, thankfully, not one monk is pictured in a bikini.
In the early 1950s, some abbeys stopped brewing as the influx of new Trappist monks dried up. Instead of their beer dying out, these abbeys licensed the brewing of their recipes to other breweries. These commercial breweries pay royalties to the abbeys for the use of the monks’ beer recipes, as is the case with Leffe products, which are brewed by global giants In Bev, and the delicious Affligem products, which are part of the Heineken family of beers.
There are only seven remaining orders brewing their own Trappist ales within the walls of their monasteries. Outside of these seven Vatican-approved, Trappist-monk-run breweries, the use of religious imagery in Belgian beer advertising gets downright deceptive.
The Belgians are in a brewing league of their own globally and some of these amazing beers are newcomers to Calgary. Among them are the St. Bernardus and Corsendonk, and in Belgian fashion, both product lines use the word "abbey" and have little or no connection to any religious order. In the case of St. Bernardus, a happy monk image is exploited to the fullest.
At one time, St. Bernardus used to brew beers under contract for the smallest of the brewing abbeys, under the abbey’s name of St. Sixtus, but that contract was terminated in 1992 when the monks started to brew on a larger scale for themselves again. After that, the St. Bernardus brewery effectively had no product line and so decided to create knock-offs of the St. Sixtus beers that it had brewed for more than 50 years. St. Bernardus also continued to use the happy Trappist monk with beer in hand as its corporate logo, to the silent disapproval of the monks of Westvletren, who had originally used the image. Even the name "St. Bernardus" is borrowed from an abbey in France, which the brewery owner used to make cheese for.
From this small Watou, Belgian brewery we get two beers and my favourite of the two is the incredible St. Bernardus Abt 12, a beer that’s 10 per cent alcohol by volume but dangerously drinks like a five per cent beer. This dark nectar pours with a dense head that lasts all day long and has a delicate balance of hops and plums, ending with a brisk, dry, port-like finish. The quote on the box, "Bringing heavenly nectar within reach," is not that far from the truth.
Corsendonk was a real abbey at one time, but it never contained a brewery. On the site where the abbey used to stand there is now a very large hotel convention centre, but not, thankfully, a religious theme park and casino. Corsendonk is the most successful of the fake abbey beers and is run by a marketing agency that doesn’t even have its own brewery. Its beers are contract brewed at separate breweries. The delicate yet assertive Corsendonk Angus is a beautiful golden brew that pours with a billowy, dense head and imparts a mouth-drying quality that entices the drinker to want more.
There are rumours the Trappists and other religious orders that contracted out their brewing will slowly begin to crack down on the breweries with no connection to any religious order. Already the Abbaye/Brassiere de Rocs, whose products are available in British Columbia, has decided to change its packaging and name to remove any religious symbols. Brassiere de Rocs did this out of fear of a future legal fight. Currently it’s still legal for breweries to use the religious symbols, but perhaps in the future the rules will change.
One of the premier authorities on Belgian beer, popular guidebook author Tim Webb, thinks the Belgians should give in and change the flag of Belgium to the cheery monk with beer in hand. Deceptive advertising may not serve these fake abbey brewers in the afterlife, but we get the benefit of their products today. |
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