Monastery Brews... how to build an Abbey.

Chapter House of Ovila

 

 

Brick by brick...

The monks of Vina, California are rebuilding the Hearst import of a Spanish Cistercian monastery, Santa Maria de Ovila that has sat dormant, and in pieces in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for years.  Imagine, a well designed monastery...  Funding comes in part through the sale of Belgian Abbey-style ales.

To help raise proceeds for rebuilding, in 2010 the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico began brewing the Ovila Abbey beers, a series of Belgian Trappist-style ales, in conjunction with the monks. - Source

I've tried them - they are quite good.  High alcohol content, very tasty, not too pricey - and worth it.

I've also tried the Trappists and they are better.  If you are interested in becoming a monk, do not overlook the tried and true and approved, there are several Trappist monasteries in the United States, Vina being one of them.

Monks in a small Northern California town are rebuilding a 16th Century Spanish monastery with help from what may seem an unlikely source: beer.

The first phase of the building's decades-long restoration project in the Sacramento Valley town of Vina has been completed, with the Chapter House of Ovila now standing, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In the 1930s, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst bought the former Trappist monastery— the Santa Maria de Ovila — and imported it from Spain for an estate that was never realized. He had planned to use parts of the church for an indoor swimming pool changing room.

Once that project was scrapped, Hearst donated the monastery's pieces to the city of San Francisco, but the dismantled building sat forgotten in Golden Gate Park for more than 60 years.

The Vina monks eventually convinced the city to let them rebuild it there, and with the help of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in nearby Chico have raised millions to get started. - Source
 

Catholics love to drink!  Put the 'merry' back in Christmas, drink Trappist beer!

Ovila

Quadrupel (Quad) | 10.40% ABV

Very contemplative...

and better than coffee.