Spencer is home to
St. Joseph’s Abbey,
where robed monks are
busy brewing the first
American Trappist beer.
The monastery became
one of only 10 official
Trappist breweries in
the world and the first
one outside Europe in
December.
“I’ve only come to
understand the beer
world [in] getting
involved in this,
but apparently, the
Trappists have a
reputation for quality
in their products,”
says Damian Carr, the
abbot of St. Joseph’s.
That’s a bit of an
understatement. Many
other beers bearing
the Authentic Trappist
Product label are
regulars on lists of the
world’s best.
In some ways, the
monks at St. Joseph’s
might seem like odd
candidates to open up
a world-class brewery.
They don’t get out much
“we’re not in parishes,
we don’t teach schools,
we don’t go to the
missions,” the abbot
says.
What they are is selfsufficient. For more
than 60 years, the
monks at St. Joseph’s
have supported
themselves by making