Every Now and Then Even a Nun Drinks a Beer

The age old beverage, tea- (the drink, not the 'herbal substance' as the term was so finely bandied about in the '60s) -was my first introduction to what nuns like to drink. Whilst touring Western Samoa as a young girl, as we were Catholic, a barefoot nun in a white habit served as our host and drove us around to the various island convents. Western Samoa has the Queen on their currency and so, we were introduced to nuns who had...tea and crumpets every afternoon. (I can't remember if the British accent came along with those t & c's) By the last stop of 'oh my gosh, how delightful, tea & crumpets...again!' I was convinced that the cool island nuns not only got to run around barefoot, but just sat around having a natter and a cup of tea every afternoon.

But if one were to look back in the annals of history you would find that monks and nuns were the early pioneers of brewing....beer! Imagine having a beerstein of suds, a 'bloody pint,' a 'dang beer' with a flock of nuns! What with many of us that join the order of Irish, Latino and English descent, you can certainly say that beer drinking is an instilled part of our makeup!

Read about it at the link below where it refers to our early brothers and sisters as "beer saints" who promoted beer consumption among the malnourished! Hmm, you could say we were either partly responsible for starting a fat, couch potato society, or the genesis for AA....
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/226beersaints.html

As far back as 1677 "the nuns thirst got the better of them..." Idle time creates idle hands no doubt... and besides what was there to do back then? Read about it here -
http://www.upliftersspirits.com/story.htm


As a world traveler when the chips get low from our non-profit status, it's always good to have a 'road map' if you will, of the various orders to stop in and say hello (preferably not the 'tea & crumpets' orders). When in Belgium one must always have a holy visit to the Trappists, one of the most 'severe' orders of monks and nuns who are known for their finely brewed 'Trappist Beers.' Hmm, let's review 'severe.' When a monk gets out of line he has to go toil for hours in the brewery. I imagine more than a few monks are caught kneeling on one knee, skipping a prayer or two, or grabbing an extra piece of bread, in order to meet their fate! http://www.beer2005.be/langue/en/biere/Trappistes.htm


Belgium is home to, at last count, 12 Trappist abbeys, six for nuns and six for monks. One of my favorite stops is the Trappists in Orval as legend has it that Countess Matilda of Tuscany lost a gold ring in a lake and when it was brought to the surface by a trout, she thanked God by...endowing a monastery. And *praise Jesus* the monastery saw fit to start brewing beer, it is believed before the French Revolution. Either way, you can get lost in its history and if you get on a monk's good side he'll take you to where the real good stuff is down in the basement. But... we won't go there, verbally that is. Read all about the Trappists here by a 'real' Michael Jackson, a self-named 'beer hunter,' and one who chose to sample the brewskis around the world and not the, 'er children of the world shall we say. http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000221.html


And most all of the Trappist breweries are a hop, skip and a jump to a neighboring pub, one even run by the monks. How delightful! So, go wet your whistle at lunchtime and skip the tea and crumpets for now! Until next time...