Belgian Monks Resurrect 220-Year-Old Beer

Finally, science & religion meet and it is a glorious thing! French revolutionaries burned down the monastery located in Grimebergen, Belgium, in 1798, destroying many things, but not everything. After 220 years an order of monks at the Grimebergen Abbey have recovered ancient books and have started to brew beer again using the texts thought to be lost. The first glass was a result of four years of research into the recipes and methods that the monks of the Norbertine monastery used in the past. Some of the texts date back to the 12th century and are written in Latin & Old Dutch, making it hard to translate and figure out which will make good beer. But as religion teaches, beware of over doing it and take things in moderation, this new beer is 10.8% alcohol by volume.

Now that the abbey is back in the brewing business, they look to create a full brewery by 2020 that will include a bar & restaurant for visitors that will sit inside the abbey's walls.

It reminds me of that old quote many people believe that Benjamin Franklin said, "Beer is proof that God loves us & wants us to be happy." Benjamin was actually talking about rain water that helps grow the grapes for wine, but this misquote fits this story well enough for me.