Sister Doris Engelhard is a

Catholic nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

and Bavarian brewmaster. Engelhard brews her

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 ...

in the

Mallersdorf Abbey Mallersdorf Abbey (Abtei or Kloster Mallersdorf) was formerly a monastery of the Benedictine Order and is now a Franciscan convent in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg in Bavaria. History The monastery, dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, was foun ...

, and feels that "brewing is her way of serving

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

." Engelhard is the last nun working in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as a brewmaster.

Biography

Engelhard is a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

sister. In 1961, Engelhard started at

as a student. The nuns also helped take care of her sick mother. Engelhard wanted to be a nun after her experience, but her father felt she could pursue more lucrative career choices. So she thought about studying

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and then at the suggestion of the headmistress, studied brewing. She began her apprenticeship in 1966 and in 1969, she took her vows to join the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. In 1975, she became the brewmaster in Mallersdorf Abbey, taking over from another sister who had been brewing there since the 1930s. In 1977, she was brewing 3,300 pints a year. Today, Mallersdorf brews about 80,000 gallons of beer a year. The beer brewed at Mallersdorf is not exported and is only consumed locally. The beer is untreated and needs to be drunk while it is still fresh.

References

External links

Sister Doris, Last Nun Brewing in the World
(video in German and English) 21st-century German Roman Catholic nuns German brewers People from Bavaria German beer culture German Franciscans Franciscan nuns 20th-century German Roman Catholic nuns {{Authority control