Tynt Meadow

The Reformation put a temporary stop to the founding of abbeys in England. While the monasteries had previously flourished, Henry VIII caused turbulent times and laid the foundation for the English Civil Wars by splitting the church. The Acts of Uniformity in the 17th century led to mass dismissals of clergy and forced countless monasteries to their knees. Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England, was one of the first newly built monasteries after the church renewal movement.

A project with many benefactors

Ambrose de Lisle made part of his land available to Brother Augustine Higgs in 1835 and the monk founded the Abbey of Mount Saint Bernard with the financial support of the Earl of Shrewsbury. The famous architect Augustus Welby Pugin offered his services free of charge and the monastery was opened in 1844. In order to finance everyday life and to comply with the commandment "ora et labora" (prayer and work), the monks pursued and still pursue various crafts to this day. They bind books, cast candles, make pottery, design greeting cards and make rosaries. The collected works of the clergy are sold in the monastery shop and cover both the monks' livelihood and the maintenance of the buildings. The abbey also runs a guest house for pilgrims and anyone who would like to take part in monastic life for a while. For a long time, a farm and a dairy farm were also maintained. After farming and the dairy farm became increasingly unprofitable, they looked for alternatives and finally decided to set up a brewery. In 2018, the abbey continued the centuries-old monastic brewing tradition and has since made a large part of its living from it.

Simply by conviction

Before the first beer was launched, the monks experimented with a home brewing kit. They tested a whole range of different styles and sought advice from their brewer colleagues at the Zundert monastery brewery, among others. The Cistercians preach simplicity and practice it in the brewhouse: their beer is reduced to the essentials, dispenses with unnecessary frills and is completely unpretentious. The name of the beer, Tynt Meadow, refers to the meadows on which the monastery was built almost 200 years ago. As a brewery run by monks within a monastery, the Mount Saint Bernard Abbey meets two of the three requirements for admission to the International Trappist Association, and they also meet the third requirement by donating part of their profits to charity. This means that their beers bear the Trappist seal and they are the only Trappist brewery in England. Their Dubbel Three Rules of Authentic Trappist was created in collaboration with two other Trappist breweries: La Trappe Trappist and Zundert Trappist.