Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Westvleteren
Westvleteren Abbey is inhabited by brothers from the Cistercian order. They live according to the rule of St. Benedict. They devote their lives to prayer, reading and work. In 1831 Jan-Babtist Victoor, together with the prior and several monks, founded a Cistercian monastery here. In the ever-expanding congregation, an abbey church and a primary school were built in 1840. In May 1839, after receiving a license signed by King Leopold I, a brewery was opened on the abbey grounds. In 1850 sixteen monks from Westvleteren went to Scourmont near Chime, founding an abbey there. In 1871 Pope Pius IX granted the monastery in Westvleteren the status of an abbey.
Legendary Trappist beer
Initially, the monks brewed beer for their own use, then they started selling it, making the brewery the main source of income for the abbey. In 1945, Abbot Gerardus Deleye decided to downsize the ever-expanding brewery. He believed that constant work on brewing beer distracted monks from what was most important, i.e. prayer and contemplation. In 1946 year, production was transferred to the nearby Brewery of Saint Bernard in Watou, which is still operating today. In 1962 the concession was extended for the next 30 years. Finally in 1992 beer production returned to Westvleteren Abbey. This was forced by changing regulations regarding the brewing of Trappist beers. From now on, only beers produced by monks within the walls of the abbey could be called Trappist beers.
Westvleteren Abbey today
We brew to live. We don't live to brew.
After the end of the cooperation with Westvleteren, the Saint Bernard Brewery started brewing its own beer, which is still popular today. The most famous beer from this brewery is St. Bernardus Abt 12. Nowadays, the abbey in Westvleteren brews a brewery within the monastery walls. About 6000 hectoliters annually. Five natural raw materials are used to brew three Trappist beers: blond, 8 and 12. All beers are unfiltered and unpasteurized, secondary fermented in the bottle. The purpose of the Saint Sixtus Abbey brewery is to finance the activities of the abbey and its social works.
Because the monks chose a solitary life, spent in prayer and silence, the monastery and brewery are not open to visitors. The congregation invites guests to the guesthouse to experience community life spent in silence and prayer. The stay lasts from two to six days. Many guests also visit the pilgrimage chapel and the Grotto of Lourdes, a place of prayer with a statue of the Virgin Mary. Opposite the abbey is the In de Vrede restaurant, serving all the beers brewed at the Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Westvleteren.
