De Koningshoeven Brewery (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven) is a Dutch
Trappist brewery
Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label ...
founded in 1884 within the walls of
Koningshoeven Abbey
Koningshoeven Abbey ( nl, Abdij Koningshoeven, Abdij Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven) is a monastery of the Trappists (Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance) founded in 1881 in Berkel-Enschot in North Brabant, the Netherlands.
Fou ...
(''Abdij Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven'') in
Berkel-Enschot
Berkel-Enschot is a Dutch village, located in the municipality of Tilburg in the North Brabant province which borders Belgium.
Geography
Berkel-Enschot is located between Tilburg and Oisterwijk. Surrounding towns and hamlets are Brem, Heikant, He ...
(near
Tilburg
Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...
).
History
In 1884, the abbey opened a brewery inside the monastery in order to finance the monastery and contribute to charitable causes. Despite this goal, the brewery was run as a commercial enterprise. The abbey owned several bars in the area and produced lager under its own "Trappist" brand as well as contract brewing for several
private label
A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...
s. In 1969, the abbey licensed the brewing operations to the Artois Brewery (now
InBev
InBev () is a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheu ...
). In 1980 the deal with Artois ended, and the monks went back to brewing themselves, this time a
top fermented
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...
beer which had only been made in limited quantities since the 1950s. Over time the brewery introduced more varieties, first with ''Dubbel'' and ''Tripel'' in 1987, then in 1992 they introduced ''Blond''.
Between 1993 and 2000, the brewery also marketed a brand called ''Enkel''. The brewery also produces the world's only Trappist
witbier
Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...
. The brewery also used to produce the
Jopen
Jopen () is a beer brewery from Haarlem, Netherlands. Jopen's beer is a result of the work of Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap, which was founded in 1992. The mission of the Biergenootschap is to re-create traditional Haarlem beers and bring t ...
beer.
The brewery started exporting in 1985, and in 1989 the brewery was modernised.
From 1980 until 1999, the brewery was largely run by the monks. Due to the difficulty of the ageing monks continuing to operate the brewery, a
limited liability company
A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...
was set up as a subsidiary of the large commercial brewer,
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. In 1999 the new company began to take over day-to-day operations, renting the buildings and equipment from the abbey.
As a result of this agreement, a dispute arose with the ''
International Trappist Association'', the body that governs the labelling of goods as Trappist. They claimed that this new method of operation was against the regulations that permitted the beer to display the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' logo. Whilst the beer continued to be brewed within the abbey walls, the arrangement with Bavaria was felt to be too commercialised. As a result, the brewery withdrew their use of the logo on 1 December 1999. However, the brewery continued to label the beer as ''Trappistenbier''.
After a lengthy study by all parties, and a review of the agreement between the abbey and brewery, the beers were granted the right to display the logo again as of September 9, 2005. As part of this settlement, the monks have taken a more active control of the brewery day-to-day operations, working several hours each day.
The brewery
![Trappist 002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Trappist_002.JPG)
Of the twelve trappist breweries, this brewery is currently operated by ''De Koningshoeven NV'', a subsidiary of the Bavaria Brewery, but the buildings and equipment are owned by the abbey. The monks of the abbey are the ultimate authority on the brewing process. However, the secular company runs the business operations. The abbey also houses a bar and shop/museum, the latter of which is staffed by a monk.
At times, the brewery has allowed its spare capacity to be used for brewing of other beers. Wieckse Witte and
Chimay
Chimay (, wa, Chimai) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. In 2006, Chimay had a population of 9,774. The area is 197.10 km2 which gives a populatio ...
have at one stage been brewed in the abbey.
As with all other Trappist breweries, the brewery exists in order to finance the monastery, not for profit or any other commercial reason.
Originally the brewery was called ''De Schaapskooi'', and this name is still used casually especially around the region.
Beers
![La Trappe - 5 bouteilles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/La_Trappe_-_5_bouteilles.jpg)
The
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
s and the brewery are usually marketed under the name ''La Trappe''. However, in some markets, such as the United States, the ''Koningshoeven'' name was used until 2010. It is one of five producers of
Trappist beer
Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label ...
outside Belgium, and produces four regular and two
seasonal beer A seasonal beer is a beer that is typically brewed during or for a particular season, holiday or festival period. Many breweries and microbreweries produce seasonal beers. Seasonal beers may be produced when fresh ingredients are available during ...
s:
* ''La Trappe
Blond
Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...
'' (6.5%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
)
* ''La Trappe
Dubbel
The term dubbel (also double) is a Belgian Trappist beer naming convention. The origin of the dubbel was a strong version of a brown beer brewed in Westmalle Abbey in 1856, which is known to have been on sale to the public by June 1861.Jef van den ...
'' (7% ABV)
* ' (7.5% ABV)
* ''La Trappe
Tripel
Tripel is a term used by brewers mainly in the Low Countries, some other European countries, and the U.S. to describe a strong pale ale, loosely in the style of ''Westmalle Tripel''. The origin of the term is unknown, though the main theory is ...
'' (8% ABV)
* ''La Trappe
Quadrupel
A Quadrupel (Flemish for 'quadruple') is a type of beer, with an alcohol by volume of 9.1% to 14.2%.
There is little agreement on the status of Quadrupel as a beer style. Writer Tim Webb notes that similar beers are called ''Grand Cru'' in Bel ...
'' (10% ABV)
* ''La Trappe
Quadrupel
A Quadrupel (Flemish for 'quadruple') is a type of beer, with an alcohol by volume of 9.1% to 14.2%.
There is little agreement on the status of Quadrupel as a beer style. Writer Tim Webb notes that similar beers are called ''Grand Cru'' in Bel ...
Oak Aged'' (10% ABV)
* ''La Trappe
Witte Trappist'' (5.5% ABV)
* ''La Trappe
Bock
Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including:
*Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version
*Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...
bier'' (7% ABV) (Seasonal)
* ''La Trappe PUUR'' (4.7% ABV) (
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
)
Apart from the La Trappe brand, the brewery produces ''Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale'' mainly for export.
The water for the beer is drawn from five 200-metre deep wells on the abbey grounds, and all beers except the ''Blond'' are
bottle conditioned
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brew ...
. The
spent grain
Brewer's spent grain (BSG) or draff is a food waste that is a byproduct of the brewing industry that makes up 85 percent of brewing waste. BSG is obtained as a mostly solid residue after wort production in the brewing process. The product is i ...
remaining after the wort is filtered from the mash is used to feed the abbey's own herd of cows.
Originally there was an ''Enkel'' which was the
monk's table beer,
but it was replaced by Blond in the range.
References
;Bibliography
* Stan Hieronymus, ''Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales'', Brewers Publications (4 Nov 2005),
External links
La Trappe Trappistenbier
{{Coord, 51, 32, 36.78, N, 5, 7, 35.82, E, type:landmark, display=title
Trappist breweries
Breweries in the Netherlands
Breweries in North Brabant
Buildings and structures in Tilburg
Dutch companies established in 1884
Food and drink companies established in 1884