The Beautiful History of Catholicism and Beer

“From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world.” - St. Arnulf of Metz

I recently sat down with an old friend and had several good conversations over a few drinks. As we opened up our respective beers, we went from the usual, “how’s it going?” or “what’s new with you?” And as time went by we eventually fell onto the topic of religion and (of course) Catholicism in particular. Afterwards, I couldn’t help but think about the long history between the Church and beer, and how much they have impacted each other.

Since what feels like the beginning of civilization, beer has been a staple of the people’s diet. Beer’s origin wasn’t solely for recreational purposes but a means of survival. Water was often contaminated and extremely difficult to keep safe to drink for the average citizen. Beer on the other hand rendered it safe to drink and with it having low alcoholic content was intended for the whole family. Being such a core component of the family life, and contrary to modern perceptions, brewing was largely a task completed by women. In fact, a woman could be considered unfit for marriage if she could not brew her family beer.

Beer was crucial to humanity’s survival and flourish very early on, which is why it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn how many of the greatest Catholics in Church history were huge fans of the stuff. In addition to an actual beer blessing, there’s even been a few miracles attributed to a few beer loving saints (in addition to the small miracle that is beer itself). A notable lover of beer was St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. As a wealthy and generous man, He had quite the friendly and loving reputation. Today, a special beer is brewed only one day every year on December 6, his feast day, in his honor. Samichlaus Bier is aged for 10 months and sold after the following year’s feast day. Samichlaus Bier was at one time known as the world’s strongest beer. Oh, did I mention that St. Nicholas of Myra was the inspiration for Santa Claus? Samichlaus actually means Santa Claus. So Santa Claus inspired the world’s strongest beer! There are several more notable saints associated with beer such as, St. Aquinas, St. Wenceslas, St. Brigid, and St. Arnulf of Metz (who performed beer related miracles after death).

If one simply looks at history, it becomes clear that Catholics have a long history with brewing. And that history continues to this day! The association between Catholic monks and brewing is legendary! The beers these holy men brew tend to be richer and stronger than everyday beers you can find in the corner store. Tradition tells us these rich, heavier beers were brewed to sustain the monks in times of shortages and through their Lenten fasts. Of all the brewing monks, none are more famous than the brewing Trappist Monks. "Trappist" refers to monks of the Order of Reformed Cistercians. There are roughly 170 Trappist monasteries in the world. Following the rules of the order concerning manual labor, a few of the monasteries produce beer as a way of fulfilling this rule and supporting the needs of their community. It is definitely a labor of love, love of the Creator and love of the labor FOR the Creator. The monks brew a wide variety of beer which are heavily sought after all over the world by those who know what good beer is! Several hold the variety of Trappist beers as some of the best in the entire world! This, along with the proceeds going to support their religious order, make it easy to endure the usually hefty price tag for a bottle whenever one comes across them.

So moral of the story, is beer endorsed by the Mother Church and you can get drunk and everything will be fine right? Absolutely not! To look into this rich history for approval to over indulge, is to warp and distort reality. After all, over indulgence is not the Catholic way. This is the important take away from all of this! We give thanks to God for his abundant gifts, including beer, by rejoicing in them with good friends and family, not with abusing them. So go and give thanks to God for our rich history. Thanks to God for being able to rejoice in his gifts responsibly as those of the great laity, such as G. K. Chesterton, to the great saints of the Church.

“We should thank God for beer and burgundy by not drinking too much of them.” –

G. K. Chesterton