Monks' Ale

“He who drinks ale sleeps well. He who sleeps well cannot sin. He who does not sin goes to heaven. Amen.”

~ 18th century German beer stein

For centuries monks throughout Europe have been recognized for crafting some of the world’s finest ale. The Benedictine monks of New Mexico bring these same venerable traditions to Monks’ Ale ~ a healthy, full bodied ale that endears us with heavenly taste.

Liquid Bread: Ale was central to monastic life. It was consumed with the frugal meals of the monks and was considered a vital part of their diets. While abbots and bishops began to accumulate considerable wealth and power, the life of the average monk was one of grinding poverty and drudgery, alleviated only by a few tankards of nutritious ale for breakfast, lunch and supper alongside bread, thin vegetable soup and, when their luck was in, cheese. Vitamins of the B-family, present in all ale, played a key role in keeping drinkers healthy. The consumption of ale was especially important during Lent, the time of fasting that lasts for 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. The term ‘liquid bread’ was coined by monks to stress the way in which ale sustained them during the period that mirrored Christ’s fasting in the wilderness.

~ Heavenly Beer, 2002, Roger Protz