Our base recipies have been refined for almost 900 years by many generations of sisters of the cisterciens parish. Beer was the lifeblood for many Abbeys during the middle ages, the skills needed to brew a consistent great tasting product was proprietary to the sisters and monks living in the abbeys.
Beer was a healthy alternative to drinking water in those days, it gave workers energy and they did not get sick from water born illnesses since the cooking process involved in the brewery killed all organisms in the water.
This made beer a valueable resource and the Abbey’s started selling their beers in order to sustain their operations.
During end of the 18th century many Abbey breweries were closed down or destroyed as result of the French Revolution ( 1789 – 1815). After 1880 a lot of breweries were starting their activity again. At the end of the 19th century there were a lot of new breweries starting all over Belgium and they all created their own beers. The art of beer brewing now spread all over the world and the Belgian Abbey beers and Belgian special beers became widely appreciated for their unique taste.