PARIS – The legal battle has been going on for 10 years, and the last rounds have always been won by the Trappists. Two days ago the new victory: the Court of Appeal of Liège reiterated that the water of the Tridaine spring should not be touched, giving reason to the monks of the abbey Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy. The birra trappista Rochefort is safe. At least until the appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Trappist monks of Rochefort, in southern Belgium, defend the 1833 deed that granted them an easement on the source, even though it is owned by the Lhoist mining group. “The current tunnel is already artificial – says the company’s communications manager, Jean Marbehant -, we would like to channel the water to increase our extraction capacity”. Lhoist needs to pump more water to enlarge the quarry and continue lime production, otherwise set to stop in 2022. The company has 100 branches in 25 countries and employs over 6,000 people, 150 of whom work in the quarry near the abbey. .
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Why Trappist beers are in danger
The need to intervene on the source emerged ten years ago, but the monks have always opposed, convinced that any modification of the waterway would end up altering the special taste of their beer. The experts appointed by Lhoist conducted experiments showing how the water qualities would remain unchanged, but the monks did not give up and the Belgian courts have so far recognized their right to protect the tradition and enforce the deed of almost two centuries ago. . Apart from the case of Rochefort threatened by the quarry, Trappist beers they are in danger because the monks willing to devote themselves to production are starting to run out. “Trappist” derives from the abbey of Notre-Dame de la Trappe, in Normandy, where in 1664 the abbot Armand Jean Le Bouthillier de Rancé founded the order of the “Cistercians of strict observance”, returning to a severity of customs that it was lost: the obligation of silence and manual labor, strict limits on correspondence, restricted diet. A lifestyle perhaps less rigid today, but still one that attracts few volunteers.
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The labels and requirements
Belgium has just lost one of its six Trappist beers, Achel, which will continue to be produced and sold in the usual small quantities, but will no longer be able to display the typical hexagonal logo with the words ‘Authentic Trappist Product’ granted by the International Trappist Association. when three requirements are met: 1) the beer must be brewed under the supervision of the monks;
2) in the abbey where they live;
3) a portion of the proceeds must go to charities. No monk lives in Achel Abbey, hence the withdrawal of the precious hexagon. The five Belgian Trappist beers with the «ATP» logo therefore remain Rochefort, Westmalle, Chimay, Orval and Westvleteren, which has been repeatedly voted «best beer in the world» by the Ratebeer.com website. The first beer outside the Benelux to get the “ATP” logo was in 2012 from the abbey of Engelszell, Austria; the first non-European was the Spencer Ale from Saint-Joseph Abbey, Massachusetts, in 2013. Since then, Dutch Zundert, English Tynt Meadow and Italian Tre Fontane have been recognized as authentic Trappist beers.
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May 17, 2021 (change May 17, 2021 | 23:36)
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