BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Monks at a Belgian abbey have been forced to stop selling their famous beer after it was voted the best in the world and was promptly sold out.
The abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in western Belgium is home to some 30 Cistercian and Trappist monks who lead a life of seclusion, prayer, manual labor -- and beer-brewing.

A survey of thousands of beer enthusiasts from 65 countries on the RateBeer Web site (www.ratebeer.com) in June rated the Westvleteren 12 beer as the world's best.

But the abbey only has a limited brewing capacity, and was not able to cope with the beer's sudden popularity.

"Our shop is closed because all our beer has been sold out," said a message on the abbey's answering machine, which it calls the "beer phone."

And the abbey has no intention of boosting its capacity to satisfy market demand.

"We are not brewers, we are monks. We brew beer to be able to afford being monks," the father abbot said on the abbey's Web site.

Monk Mark Bode told De Morgen daily: "Outsiders don't understand why we are not raising production. But for us life in the abbey comes first, not the brewery."

 

I saw this yesterday. Sure wish there was a place in the US to get it, since Trappist beers are my favorite and I've never had a chance to even try this one.

 

Try some places that specialize in higher end beers. We had a place "The Merchant of Vino" that would order just about anything for you. They kept quite a stock of Trappist beers/ales on hand. You might be surprised at what you can find. Alas for me my days of sampling fine beers are over, since August of 2001. I had to give away my last 1/2 case of Rodenbach Grand Cru Red Ale to my son.

 

Oh, believe me, I've looked all over. My biggest problem is that I'm in Alabama, which has a 6% law, so I buy a lot of Belgians while travelling.

Unfortunately, I can't even order it online, because none of the online stores will ship to AL.

 

well, thats one thing less to look foward to once i turn 21

 

Wow... I like small market beers.