St Bernardus

St. Bernardus was founded in 1946 in the West Flanders village of Watou, on the site of a former refuge community connected to the Catsberg Abbey, which had produced cheese to support monastic activities after relocating from France in the late 19th century.

The brewery's original purpose was to brew and sell beer on behalf of the Trappist monks of nearby Westvleteren Abbey. Brewmaster Mathieu Szafranski, who came from Westvleteren, became a partner and brought the recipes, know-how and yeast strain that shaped St. Bernardus's beers. That arrangement ended in 1992, when the Trappist monasteries restricted the "Trappist" designation to beer brewed within monastery walls — since then, the beers have been sold solely under the St. Bernardus name, including its well-known Abt 12 quadrupel.