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<\/a>Maybe. You see, my wife alerted me to this story on NPR about needy Cistercian monks exporting beer to pay for building repairs. But she quickly followed it up with, \u201cthere\u2019s none sold in Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n
Figures. \u00a0Teri Schultz shares the story.<\/p>\n
The Trappist monks who brew Westvleteren beer are exporting only enough of it to raise money to make renovations to their abbey in western Belgium.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
The 12th day of the 12th month of 2012 is not a day of deliverance but of delivery for devout American fans of Westvleteren 12, brewed by the reclusive Belgian monks at\u00a0St. Sixtus Abbey<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The celebrated beer \u2014 often called the best in the world \u2014 is usually only available for sale at the abbey, located in the Belgian countryside. But starting Wednesday, buyers in the U.S. and other countries can purchase the beer at\u00a0select retailers<\/a>\u00a0for $84.99 for six bottles.<\/p>\n
Why this sudden blessing for beer lovers? The abbey happened to need an expensive renovation recently. But its 21 monks live an austere life \u2014 which means, among other things, that they purposely lack cash reserves. So the monks reluctantly made the decision to export small amounts of the precious nectar overseas for the first time.<\/p>\n
And, says Mark Bode, the longtime spokesman for the Westvleteren Brewery, \u201cI think it will be the last.\u201d Bode is one of very few people privy to the monks\u2019 views, as no visitors are allowed inside the abbey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say, \u2018We are monks, we don\u2019t want to be too commercial. We needed some money to help us buy the new abbey and that\u2019s it,\u2019 \u201d Bode explains. \u201cBack to normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the abbey in western Belgium\u2019s countryside, \u201cnormal\u201d entails a life entirely focused on prayer. The monks rise at 3 a.m. to start the first of seven prayer sessions per day. In between, they busy themselves in the kitchen and the garden, and with tasks like painting \u2014 and brewing.<\/p>\n
The monks have brewed the same amount of beer every year since 1945 \u2014 about 3,800 U.S. barrels, just the amount needed to sustain the abbey. Sales of the beer are tightly controlled.<\/p>\n
The resulting scarcity created demand on a regional scale, even before beer websites started an international craze by giving Westvleteren\u2019s beers a stellar taste rating.<\/p>\n
In the brewery\u2019s cafe, beer connoisseur Andrew Stroehlein, who has\u00a0blogged his way<\/a>\u00a0through an estimated 500 Belgian varieties, says he went through, well, hell and high water to get some Westvleteren.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou call the number over a series of days, weeks, months and nobody answers,\u201d he says, recounting how he tried to contact the abbey\u2019s beer shop. \u201cThen finally somebody does answer. They tell you when you can come; they tell you what beer you can buy; they tell you how much you\u2019re gonna pay. And if you don\u2019t like it, then God be with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read\/listen to the rest<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Which makes me wonder where I\u2019ll have to go, and what I\u2019ll have to do, to bring some of this beer closer to home. Beer Advocate rates it a perfect score of 100<\/a>. Even if a six-pack goes for $85.00<\/a>, the monks\u2019 roof must be repaired, folks.<\/p>\n
Hmmm\u2026this situation sounds familiar.<\/p>\n