Last night on his Lufthansa flight back from belgium, 21st Amendment brewer Shaun O’Sullivan e-mailed me some of his photos from his trip to Belgium, so I thought I’d share them with everybody.
With the bartenders at the Koln Karnival at the local Pfaffen Brewery in downtown Koln.
Shaun with Jen Garris of Magnolia Brewpub and a local clown.
Shaun with another local at the Koln bar.
Touring Chimay with Pierre, a civilian that works in the brewery.
Outside of Rochefort brewery.
According to Shaun, the gate was open at Rochefort, so they just walked in and took pictures. Nobody said anything to them because of the vow of silence.
Hi Jay,
The “vow of silence” line works in so many contexts that I almost feel bad debunking it, but the notion that Trappists take a vow of total silence is incorrect.
Such a vow never existed, although there were strict rules about speaking. While those rules have eased, at some times and in some places silence still is expected. The purpose of silence is to give one space in which to pray, meditate, and read, and to allow others to do the same.
Silence is an important part of monastery life, and presumably in the beers made in them, just not mandated.
Prosit,
Stan
Stan,
Thanks for the clarification. Shaun, of course, was just trying to be funny but I appreciate knowing the true facts.
Oogy Wawa,
J