The Forgotten Powerhouses Behind Medieval Brewing
Think modern craft brewers are pushing boundaries? Think again. Long before hop-forward IPAs and barrel-aged stouts, medieval monks were creating liquid masterpieces that would make today’s strongest beers seem like children’s drinks. Monks created brewing as we know it, with the first large scale breweries in Europe and many advances to brewing techniques and technology. These robed revolutionaries weren’t just praying and copying manuscripts – they were perfecting fermentation techniques that produced beers with alcohol content rivaling modern spirits. Although beer may have been invented by the ancient Babylonians, it was perfected by the medieval monasteries that gave us brewing as we know it today. The monastery walls didn’t just protect the faithful; they safeguarded brewing secrets that would create some of history’s most potent beverages. The oldest drawings of a modern brewery are from the Monastery of Saint Gall in Switzerland. The plans, which date back to A.D. 820, show three breweries – one for guests of the monastery, one for pilgrims and the poor, and one for the monks themselves.
When Beer Became Medieval Medicine
Two bishops, Saint Arnulf of Metz and Saint Arnold of Soissons, are credited with saving hundreds from a plague because they admonished their flock to drink beer instead of water. This wasn’t just superstition – it was practical medicine disguised as divine wisdom. Medieval monks understood what modern science has proven: alcohol kills harmful bacteria that contaminated water supplies. Whiskey, herbal liqueurs and even bitters were likewise invented for medicinal reasons. The Church even developed special blessings for beer, with one ancient prayer beginning: “O Lord, bless this creature beer, which by Your kindness and power has been produced from kernels of grain, and may it be a health-giving drink for mankind.” Christian monks built breweries, to provide food, drink, and shelter to travelers and pilgrims. These weren’t just casual brewers – they were the pharmaceutical industry of their time.
The Three-Brewery System That Changed Everything
Medieval monasteries operated with a sophistication that modern breweries would envy. The oldest drawings of a modern brewery are from the Monastery of Saint Gall in Switzerland. The plans, which date back to A.D. 820, show three breweries – one for guests of the monastery, one for pilgrims and the poor, and one for the monks themselves. This wasn’t just organizational genius – it was quality control at its finest. Each brewery produced different strengths of beer for different purposes. The monks’ private brewery created the strongest, most carefully crafted beers. The monastery of St. Gall built the first significant brewery in Switzerland. At that time each monk received five quarts of beer daily. Five quarts a day per monk – that’s over a gallon of beer consumption, proving these holy men took their brewing seriously.
Vikings and the 9% Alcohol Mystery
Attempts to reproduce a Viking brew have yielded a strong (9 percent alcohol), dark, sweet, malty beverage. It would have seemed even sweeter in an age when sugar was rare. But the monks weren’t just competing with Vikings – they were surpassing them. While 9% might sound impressive, medieval monastery records suggest some monastic brews reached even higher alcohol levels through careful fermentation techniques. Attempts to reproduce a Viking brew have yielded a strong (9 percent alcohol), dark, sweet, malty beverage. The monks had advantages Vikings didn’t: year-round brewing facilities, written records to perfect recipes, and most importantly, the luxury of time to experiment. The art of brewing essentially became the province of monks. And they carefully guarded their knowledge. Monks brewed virtually all beer of good quality until the twelfth century.
The Lenten Loophole That Created Liquid Bread
“Liquida non frangunt ieunum – Liquids do not break the fast.” The monks had a clever trick up their sleeves and gladly embraced this principle, as it allowed them to indulge in brewing and consuming beer even during the period of Lent. Since they were restricted from consuming substantial amounts of food during Lent, they compensated by enjoying robust, full-bodied, and calorie-rich beer. This wasn’t cheating – it was theological creativity. Monks developed brewing techniques specifically to create nutritionally dense beers that could sustain them during fasting periods. It tasted somewhat like “liquid bread” — much more so than more modern beer. These weren’t just alcoholic beverages; they were meal replacements packed with calories and nutrients. Their disciplined approach and relentless pursuit of excellence led to refined techniques, including precise temperature control during fermentation and ageing, as well as groundbreaking cellar methods for storing and maturing their liquid creations.
The 14% Alcohol Ceiling and How Monks Broke It
Note that beverages produced strictly by fermentation are naturally limited to about 14% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) as the yeasts die of alcohol poisoning at that point. But medieval monks weren’t content with nature’s limits. These spirits would have had a much lower alcohol content (about 40% ABV) than the alchemists’ pure distillations, and they were likely first thought of as medicinal elixirs. Some monasteries began experimenting with early distillation techniques, creating concentrated alcohol that could be added back to fermented beverages. Europeans had been distilling since at least the 12 century and possibly earlier. The first distilled beverages of wine called aqua vitae or water of life, were used mainly in apothecaries as medicine. These weren’t just stronger beers – they were proto-spirits that bridged the gap between fermented beverages and distilled liquors.
The Modern Survivors: Trappist Powerhouses
As of 2024, there are only 10 Trappist breweries in the world. These monastic breweries are spread across Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, and the UK. Today’s Trappist beers are the direct descendants of medieval monastery brewing, and they still pack serious alcoholic punch. Alcohol: 10.2 % Vol. The famous Westvleteren 12, considered by many to be the world’s best beer, contains 10.2% alcohol – stronger than most wines. But fame found them anyway in the mid-2000s, when the beer-information website RateBeer.com named their dark, quadrupel-style 12 the best beer in the world. These modern monastery beers prove that the medieval tradition of high-alcohol brewing never truly died – it just went underground in monastery cellars.
The Lost Art of Multi-Strength Brewing
Some medieval beers had lower alcohol content and were drunk for breakfast. Other stronger beers were for lunch and dinner and at the end of the day. Medieval monks perfected a system of brewing multiple strengths from the same grain batch – a technique that maximized efficiency while creating beverages for every occasion. The general mashing technique used by English brewers in the Elizabethan period was double (or triple) infusion mashing. In this, after the first infusion as been done (as described above) and the liquor has been drained off, a second batch of hot water is added to the grains, which are again allowed to steep. The second batch of liquor is then drained off and fermented. For very potent beers or ales, a third running would be performed in the same way. This wasn’t just economical – it was revolutionary brewing science that created everything from weak table beers to monastery-strength powerhouses from a single grain bill.
The Hop Revolution That Changed Everything
The quality of beer changed drastically around they year 1200, Unger says. Brewers in Bremen, Germany, figured out the exact amount and type of hops to add to the beer so that it kept for up to six months. Before hops, medieval brewers had to rely on alcohol strength alone to preserve their beer. Beer flavored without hops was often spoiled soon after preparation and could not be exported. The only other alternative was to increase the alcohol content, which was rather expensive. This meant that pre-hop medieval beers were often brutally strong out of necessity, not choice. The use of hops in beer was written of in 822 by the Carolingian Abbot Adalard of Corbie. Flavoring beer with hops was known at least since the 9th century, but was only gradually adopted because of difficulties in establishing the right proportions of ingredients. Monasteries were at the forefront of hop experimentation, creating the foundation for modern brewing.
The Medieval Alcohol Consumption That Would Shock Modern Drinkers
People in cities in the 16th century drank about 250 liters of beer per person per year, that is a single person consumed three-quarters of a liter a day. But these weren’t light beers – many medieval monastery brews were significantly stronger than modern beer. Beer was central to 16th century life, with workers drinking up to 15 pints a day, and new research shows they could have been up to 5% ABV. When you multiply high daily consumption by high alcohol content, medieval people were consuming alcohol at levels that would be considered dangerous today. Thus in Hamburg per capita consumption increased from an average of 300 liters per year in the 15th century to about 700 in the 17th century. Monks weren’t just brewing strong beer – they were supplying a society that treated alcohol as a daily necessity.
The Secret Ingredients That Made Medieval Beer Deadly Strong
Medieval monks didn’t just use barley and hops – they were master chemists who understood how to boost alcohol content through strategic ingredient selection. Ingredients: Water, Barley Malt, Sugar, Candy Syrup, Yeast, Hops The addition of candy syrup and sugar wasn’t for sweetness – it was for alcohol. These concentrated sugars provided extra fuel for yeast fermentation, pushing alcohol levels far beyond what grain alone could achieve. I’ve gotten mead close to 20% using medieval brewing techniques once. It involved a super-strong yeast. Most of the time it comes out closer to 10-12%. Some monastery brewers experimented with honey additions, creating hybrid beer-mead beverages that could reach wine-like alcohol levels. The monks’ access to monastery gardens, beehives, and trade networks gave them ingredients that ordinary brewers couldn’t obtain.
Did you expect that medieval monks were creating drinks that could rival modern spirits?
