{"id":46392,"date":"2024-09-28T17:08:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-28T21:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebeertimes.com\/?p=46392"},"modified":"2026-06-10T10:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:25:10","slug":"the-history-of-the-st-bernardus-brewery-and-its-close-relationship-with-westvleteren-abbey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebeertimes.com\/en\/the-history-of-the-st-bernardus-brewery-and-its-close-relationship-with-westvleteren-abbey\/","title":{"rendered":"The history of the St. Bernardus Brewery and its Close Relationship with Westvleteren Abbey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The history of the St. Bernardus brewery<\/a> is strongly linked to two Trappist abbeys. It was first in 1904, due to the anti-clerical policies of the time in France, that the monks of Catsberg Abbey (Mont des Cats) decided to move a few kilometers north to Belgium and settle on a small farm in the town of Watou.<\/p>\n

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Brouwerij St. Bernardus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As is customary in the Cistercian Order<\/a>, the monks decided at that time to begin working to generate income for their subsistence and to carry out charitable works, so for this they transformed the farm into a cheese factory, which they called “Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard.”<\/p>\n

Years later, when the monks were finally able to return to France in 1934, the rights to produce cheese in Watou were acquired by Evarist Deconinck.<\/p>\n