Sunday, September 21, 2014

Mitch's Musings: Massachusetts Monks

Who: The Monks of St. Joseph's Abbey
 
What: Trappist Ale
 
Where: Spencer Massachusetts
 
When: 2014
 
Why: For over 60 years the Monks at St. Joseph's Abbey made and sold jams and jellies to support themselves and to generate funds for their charitable endeavors.  A few years back a young brother expressed a desire to brew beer. Two years later and with the blessing of the Abbot, Spencer brewery is America's first Trappist brewery and one of only 9 in the world.
 
How: The brothers visited every other Trappist brewery in the world (one in the Netherlands, six in Belgium, and one in Austria) several times to gain as much brewing knowledge as possible.
 
My Conclusion: They got it right. Beautiful golden hue, lively effervescence and perfect balance of fruit, spice and subtle bitter hops. At 6.5% alcohol this is one of the more session-able Beligian ales as well.


NOTE: this was one of the offerings in our "Beer Of The Month Club" last month. For those of you that are members I'd love to hear your thoughts on this beer.

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