Medieval Monasteries: The Original Craft Beer Centers
Picture this: medieval Europe, where water was often unsafe to drink and beer was literally a daily necessity. Monks created brewing as we know it, with the first large scale breweries in Europe and many advances to brewing techniques and technology. Monasteries started brewing beer as early as the 5th century, and at its peak, over 600 monasteries in Europe were brewing their own beer. What’s truly mind-blowing is that these religious communities weren’t just making beer for communion – they were consuming massive quantities themselves. According to records, each monk was allowed five liters of beer a day. This wasn’t because monks had a drinking problem; Beer of that period contained less alcohol than modern-day beer. Plus, they had a clever theological loophole: “Liquida non frangunt ieunum – Liquids do not break the fast.” Because they were not permitted to eat much during Lent, the monks filled up on strong, full-flavored, high-calorie beer.
The Birth of Trappist Excellence
Today’s most prestigious monastery beers carry the coveted “Authentic Trappist Product” label, which is no marketing gimmick. The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery, either by the monks themselves or under their supervision. The brewery must be of secondary importance within the monastery and it should witness to the business practices proper to a monastic way of life. These monks don’t brew for profit – they have higher callings. The income covers the living expenses of the monks and the maintenance of the buildings and grounds. Whatever remains is donated to charity for social work and to help persons in need. Currently, thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—produce beer, but the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the International Trappist Association (ITA) to just ten breweries that meet their strict criteria.
Modern Monastic Brewing Faces Crisis
Here’s where the story takes a sobering turn. Despite modern challenges, such as rising production costs and a decreasing number of monks, these beers remain a quintessential part of the global beer experience. The numbers tell a stark tale: On May 13, 2025, a press release announced that Zundert abbey and brewery would close permanently after the summer of 2025. In May 2022, St. Joseph’s Abbey ceased beer production. In May 2023, Stift Engelszell published an article about dissolution of the monastery and move all monks to other monasteries. What once numbered in the thousands has dwindled dramatically. Today, only nine monastery breweries remain; most went bust after secularization. The two most famous are Andechs Monastery near Munich and Ettal Monastery near Oberammergau.
Wine: The Sacred Liquid That Built Europe’s Vineyards
If beer was the monks’ daily bread, wine was their sacred communion. The Eucharist, central to Christian worship, required consecrated wine, linking religious practices directly to the need for reliable wine production. Monasteries took on the task of ensuring a steady supply of high-quality wine for sacramental purposes. But here’s what’s fascinating: monks didn’t just make wine for religious purposes – they revolutionized the entire industry. They carefully selected vineyard locations and developed advanced methods for grape cultivation and wine production. Monastic vineyards were established in some of Europe’s finest wine regions like Burgundy, Loire, Bordeaux, and the Rhine. Monks were instrumental in the development of the famous Burgundy and Champagne regions. In Burgundy, the meticulous methods practiced by the monks led to exceptional wine quality, with the region becoming a symbol of winemaking excellence.
Dom Pérignon: The Monk Who Didn’t Actually Invent Champagne
Let’s bust a popular myth while we’re at it. Most renowned is the association of the Abbey of St-Pierre d’Hautvillers’ with Dom Pérignon, the Benedictine monk often credited with significant advancements in the production of Champagne. While Dom Pérignon didn’t exactly “invent” champagne, he did perfect many techniques we still use today. The real story is more complex: In 1098, a group of monks established a monastery in Cîteaux, France. With vows of poverty and hard work, they built an abbey, drained the swamp, and planted what is now one of the most famous vineyards in the world – Clos de Vougeot. This new order of monks became known as the Cistercians, and their viticultural and winemaking legacy became renowned throughout the world. These weren’t just random guys in robes stumbling onto great wine – they were methodical scientists who practiced advanced grape cultivation, including pruning methods that optimized grape yield and quality. Innovations in winemaking, such as controlled fermentation and barrel aging, began here. They recorded their findings meticulously, contributing to a rich body of knowledge.
Today’s Monastic Wineries Fight to Survive
Modern monastery wineries face the same challenges as their brewing counterparts – too few monks, too much work. The number of monasteries engaged in winemaking today has dwindled, but the few that continue offer a glimpse into a bygone era with a focus on the future. They range from small-batch production to large enterprises. Propelled by a modern commitment to honouring both the earth and their heritage, monastic wines in the modern era resonate with the broader shift towards environmentally conscious production. Some monasteries have found creative partnerships to survive. Additionally, wine producers are increasingly partnering with monasteries to create unique and exclusive wines. ‘We as a company have a deep respect for the old Georgian traditions, and we are very proud of making amazing wines with the monks,’ says Badagoni’s marketing head, Eka Vardosanidze. Kloster Eberbach is the world’s oldest continuously operating monastery winery, with origins in the 12th century when French monks settled in Rheingau, Germany.
Cheese: The Protein That Saved Medieval Monasteries
Here’s where things get really interesting – and cheesy. When unable to meat or fish due to religious reasons, cheese became quite the attractive protein. Monasteries have been known for producing their own goods since the middle ages to feed and sustain their communities of monks and nuns, and cheese has always been a popular food item to craft. The monks weren’t just making any old cheese – they were innovating like crazy. Benedictines, Cistercians, Trappists and later Franciscans and Dominicans are the creators of many legendary cheeses, especially in France where, of the 1,200 existing varieties, 70% originated in abbeys and monasteries. Why were monastic cheeses so superior? Another notable factor in the development of monastic cheese was the wealthy monasteries’ access to large herds. This enabled them to make cheese right after milking and develop a classic style, as opposed to the peasants, whose cheeses’ taste and texture was affected by their need to combine milkings to ensure a large enough quantity of milk to produce cheese.
The Cheese Legends You Know Were Born in Monasteries
Some of your favorite cheeses have surprising monastic origins. Invented by monks at the Priory of Rueil en Brie, located 30 miles from Paris, the “King of Cheeses” has impressed royals ever since it was discovered by Roman Holy Emperor Charlemagne during a visit to the monastery in 774. According to local tales, Charlemagne loved it so much he asked for it to be delivered to his castle in Aachen. And when European nations met in Vienna in 1814-1815 to discuss how to assign territories of the former French Empire, it was this monk-invented Brie that won the cheese competition between different countries. Parmesan? Yep, monks too. By mixing milk from the monasteries’ cows with salt from nearby salt mines in Salsomaggiore, these food pioneers crafted a dry dairy paste kept in large wheels that could be preserved for months or even years. The first evidence of the parmesan cheese trade goes back to 1200, when a notarized acquisition of Caseus Parmensis (cheese of Parma) was made in Genoa. By the 14th century the cheese, made according the same monk-devised recipe, was widely traded in northern Italy and ports of the Mediterranean sea.
American Monasteries: The New World Cheese Revolution
American monasteries jumped on the cheese bandwagon surprisingly recently. “We knew nothing about making cheese, absolutely nothing,” chuckles Sr Barbara of Our Lady of Angels Monastery, (OLA) reflecting on the order’s decision to produce the two-pound, red wax-covered wheels of Gouda cheese it has been hand-crafting since 1990. “We were a little naive, we thought we just get some milk, you follow the recipe, and make some cheese. But there’s a long learning curve.” The Sisters’ efforts have proved successful. 400 wheels are crafted each time using approximately 7000 gallons of milk sourced from the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative for a total of approximately 20,000 pounds of cheese each year. Eight of the 11 sisters at the monastery produce the cheese, along with a few local volunteers. However, American monastic cheesemaking faces its own crisis. But because of the dwindling number of monks, the production of cheese recently ended. at Gethsemani Abbey, one of America’s oldest monasteries.
The Science Behind Monastic Success
You might wonder why monks became such food innovators. The answer is surprisingly practical. Monks and nuns were seen as intellectual elite who could read and write (uncommon in medieval Europe). It was a free and highly-skilled labor force available to the monastery, with the help of many brothers, nuns, peasants and paid craftsmen. The monks were not only an intellectual elite (because they knew how to read and write), but also a free and high-end workforce: they not only “invented” and developed many types of foods and ways to preserve them, but they also left written recipes. It is fair to think that other “inventors” created cheese recipes, but the monks were almost the only ones who knew how to write down their recipes (after all, recording knowledge was also one of their missions). This literacy advantage meant they could document, refine, and pass down their techniques in ways that illiterate peasants simply couldn’t.
What would European cuisine look like today without these dedicated monks preserving and perfecting these ancient arts? Would we even have the incredible diversity of beer, wine, and cheese that defines our modern culinary landscape?
