St. Joseph's Abbey savors debut of Trappist Ale, Spencer, MA SPENCER — Several years ago, the monks at St. Joseph's Abbey realized they needed another way to sustain themselves and to support the abbey where they live. Over the years they've turned out millions of jars of their popular Trappist Preserves — jams, jellies, conserves and marmalades in a variety of flavors. But that work is labor intensive and the monks, who are an aging population, find it taxing. Making more preserves seemed too difficult. And with a decreasing number of men entering the priesthood, their business making vestments wasn't likely to grow, either. As they mulled their options, the idea of a brewery came up and was almost as quickly shot down during strategic planning sessions with a group of advisers. One by one, other ideas came off the table. Father Isaac Keeley and a few other monks, all fans of the brewery option, began doing some research. The monks found Dann Paquette, a craft brewer and founder of Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project. Mr. Paquette had some knowledge of Trappist ales and worked with the monks, allowing one of them to take part in brew days to learn the craft. In 2009, the monks brewed a batch of ale, made some nice labels and presented the bottles as Christmas gifts to the businessmen and academics on the board of advisers. The ale had the effect the monks had hoped for: it changed the advisors' minds and plans for a brewery were under way. "It became clear that if we wanted to do a brewery, really the most sound way to do it would be to do Trappist," Father Keeley, who is now director of Spencer Brewery, said. That would mean more challenges to earn the right to use the Authentic Trappist Product label, but it was something they felt strongly about. Products labeled as authentic Trappist must be produced within the walls of a monastery, be produced in accordance with the business practices proper to a monastic way of life and support the needs of the monastic community and its charities. The means of production and related policies are all determined by the monastic community. Some of the monks, including Father Isaac, traveled to Belgium and toured the Trappist breweries there to learn about Trappist ale. Their ideas weren't exactly warmly received by the Belgian monks who were concerned about the American monks making a less than par product that could affect them. They worried that the simple process of making ale would be complicated by the Spencer monks, ruining an age-old tradition. "We all rise and fall together," Father Keeley said. "They asked us to make one thing and make it well." The monks agreed and convinced their Belgian counterparts that they, too, would keep things simple and not disgrace the family. Still, news that there would be one product produced at the Abbey upset folks working on the brewery's business plan. Video by Rick Cinclair, read more at telegram.com http://www.telegram.com/article/20140123/NEWS/301239544/1116&nocache;=1

• published: 24 Jan 2014
• views: 10