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— produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label is assigned ...

founded in 1884 within the walls of Koningshoeven Abbey in Berkel-Enschot (near

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

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 () was 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 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 beer 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 and Belgian ; other types include Lambic (made with wild yeast), Berliner Weisse (a ...

. 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) is the United States-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 ...

was set up as a subsidiary of the large commercial brewer,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. 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

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 (, ) 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 population density ...

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

The

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

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— produce beer, but the ''Authentic Trappist Product'' label is assigned ...

outside Belgium, and produces four regular and two seasonal beers: * ''La Trappe

Blond Blond () or blonde (), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be ...

'' (6.5%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

) * ''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. In 1926, ...

'' (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 i ...

'' (8% ABV) * ''La Trappe Quadrupel'' (10% ABV) * ''La Trappe Quadrupel Oak Aged'' (10% ABV) * ''La Trappe Witte Trappist'' (5.5% ABV) * ''La Trappe

Bock Bock () is a strong German beer, usually a dark lager. History The style now known as ''Bock'' was first brewed in the 14th century in the Hanseatic town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony. The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers ...

bier'' (7% ABV) (Seasonal) * ''La Trappe PUUR'' (4.7% ABV) ( organic) * ''La Trappe Nilis'' (0.0% ABV) (alcohol free) 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 brewer, ...

. The spent grain 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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koningshoeven, Brewery De 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 19th-century architecture in the Netherlands