December 5th, 2014
31 Beers of December – Day 5: Spencer Trappist Ale
@leemovic @SpencerBrewery
To celebrate the Holiday Season, we have teamed up with beer bloggers and craft beer enthusiasts around the country to host the fourth annual beer bloggers advent calendar. This is the season of sharing and we intend to share our love of beer with you.
During the 31 days of December, we will be sharing our favorite regional/winter seasonals/holiday beers with the help from our fellow beer bloggers. We hope that you tune in every day, to hear our stories and share our holiday cheer.
Blogger:Lee Movic
Blog Name: Beer me, bartender; Craft Beer Cellar
Twitter/Facebook/Untappd: @leemovic
Beer:Spencer Trappist Ale
Brewery:The Spencer Brewery (St. Joseph’s Abbey Spencer, MA)
Beer Details:
Style:Trappist Ale
ABV:6.5%
IBUs: ? (I’d estimate about ~30 or so)
Commercial Description:
America’s First Trappist Beer
Our recipe was inspired by the traditional refectory ales known as patersbier (“fathers’ beer” in Flemish) in Belgium. These sessionable beers are brewed by the monks for their dinner table and are typically only available at the monastery. Spencer is a full-bodied, golden-hued ale with fruity accents, a dry finish and light hop bitterness. The beer is unfiltered and unpasteurized, preserving live yeast that naturally carbonates the beer in the bottle and keg and contributes to the beer flavor and aroma.
Why I selected Spencer Trappist Ale
– <I’m a pretty secular guy. My only real interaction with religion nowadays is friends’ weddings (been averaging about one per year, but I hear that number spikes in your early 30s) and beer. So, while I want to make a “sin of omission” joke for committing to contribute to the 2beerguys 31 Beers of December last year and then bailing, I’ll take a vow of silence on that one (yes, I can hear your eyes rolling from here).
My self-selected penance: 1 Ale Mary (rimshot).
Haven’t clicked away yet? I’ll cut to the chase. Spencer Trappist Ale made its much anticipated debut early in 2014. Considering there are only TEN breweries in the world whose beers carry the “Authentic Trappist Product” seal, it’s A REALLY BIG DEAL that America’s first is located right here in Massachusetts. (For more information about Trappist breweries, check out: International Trappist Association) The Spencer Brewery’s story has been covered by much better journalists than myself (I’ll plug this Public Radio International piece featuring Craft Beer Cellar’s own Kate Baker), so I won’t go too much into that here. (However, I do hope to make a trip to the closed-to-the-public facility early in 2015; stay tuned for updates…)
Now the drinking part: Spencer Trappist Ale is unique among the other available Trappist Ales, and more importantly, delicious. The golden-orange body is inviting, and a slightly grassy aroma is backed up by banana and pepper flavors. To me, it’s got a Belgian golden ale/German Hefeweizen hybrid thing going on, and it works! While I don’t know how much credence to give to the “inspired by patersbier” comment (it’s a little high in alcohol for that), this beer does strike a good balance of medium-to-full body without being overpowering in flavor or alcohol. Of course, the glass is gorgeous; I drink most of my beers out of a tulip or snifter, but there’s no denying a certain “yeah, I’m doing it right” feeling when you use a branded glass. Recommended food pairings (if you’re into that kind of thing): Fresh baked bread, soft, young goat cheese, and a dollop of your favorite St. Joseph’s Abbey Trappist Preserves.
About the Lee Movic:
– Man, I really should blog more. No, seriously, it’s kind of my job…
– beermebartender.wordpress.com; craftbeercellar.com
About Spencer Brewery:
– Description: Trappist communities observe the counsel of the Rule of St. Benedict, a 6th century guide for monastic life, that stresses the importance of ora et labora or “pray and work.” Monks are encouraged to be self-supportive and offer charitable assistance to others by producing and selling goods to the public.
In our community, each monk’s work is assigned after matching up community need and the individual’s interests and abilities. A few years ago, one of our brothers expressed interest in brewing and even did some training at a local craft brewery. Over time, his passion for brewing affected some other monks, who recognized that brewing was a very traditional monastic enterprise. Thus, when the time came to re-chart the economic path for the monastery’s future, the idea of a brewery gained traction. However, before we could come to a decision, we had to develop the brewery idea into a realistic plan.
With the blessing of the abbot, we embarked upon a two-year data-gathering mission. We visited each Trappist brewery to learn everything we could from our European brothers. Beginning at the Abbey of Westmalle, we slowly made our way around Belgium, staying at the monasteries and making friends, receiving good advice and drinking some of the world’s best beer. The final stop of our first trip was the Abbey of Sint Sixtus, brewer of the acclaimed Westvleteren ales; by the end of our second trip and more detailed discussions, we were confident that we had put together a realistic plan for a new brewery. Following monastic tradition, the monks voted and confirmed the project by an overwhelming majority – we would build America’s first Trappist brewery.
Observing Trappist tradition we have named the brewery, and the beer, Spencer after our beloved town of Spencer, MA. For More information check out spencerbrewery.com