Hops, barley and water ....... Hommelbier!

From 2000 until 2007 I worked as the CEO of a Charity called Toc H.

It proved to be an interesting seven years with much variety, many good people and an awful lot of driving.

Toc H had been founded in 1915 in Poperinge in Belgium by an army chaplain The Revd Tubby Clayton and had grown to be a major volunteer organisation in the UK.

In Belgium the house where Toc H had its beginnings, Talbot House (Toc H being signallers code) continued to provide a place of rest and recreation and hosted many battlefield tours.

The house has since been developed into a Museum highlighting not only the work of the House and the Chaplains but also an insight into the First World War.

Close by Talbot House is the St Sixtus Trappist Monastery where Beer has been brewed since 1838.

The Monastery is in Westvleteran and beer can be bought at the Monastery gate although there is now a Cafe and Visitors Centre (in de Vrede) in the Abbey grounds where Beer, Bread, Pate and Cheese can be bought for consumption on the premises or taken away.

The beer is for sale for personal consumption only and is available in limited quantities because as the Monks say "we make the beer to live, we do not live for beer" consequently their principal focus is on their life of prayerful contemplation within the Monastery.

I have on occasion arrived to purchase beer only to find the gates closed because that days brew has been sold out. Possibly because of its rarity and scarcity, possibly because it is just very, very good, in
2005, Westvleteran 12 was rated as the best beer in the world.

I can only observe that it remains the best beer I have ever tasted.

I am not aware of the beer being blessed by the monks but the Hommelbier brewed in nearby Watou whilst being a lighter IPA style beer has always been a popular refreshment and in the 'T Hommelhof in Watou, the beer menu will pair different local beers to each distinctive course.

Their braised rabbit pairs very well with Hommelbier. Hommel means hops in the local dialect and the beer contains four kinds of hops all grown locally.

The tasting notes for Hommelbier suggest a light but inviting green hop and pale malt aroma which is refreshingly spicy on the tongue revealing citrus and grapefruit notes.

Unfortunately Beer is not brewed professionally or commercially in Shotleyfields, although a remarkable number of small craft breweries are springing up in the local area and further afield.

Now the Snods Edge Beer Festival is approaching and a series of carefully chosen casks, from various local and craft breweries, will be available to taste and share during the two days of the Festival which co-incides with our Harvest Festival.

Unsurprisingly the beer will be blessed by the Parish Priest before the first cask is opened for public consumption.

In keeping with many an Irish Blessing for Beer we will focus on the key ingredients of our beers. Hops, barley and water.

Ingredients which come together to create a beverage which brings people together in happiness and in joy and so in our blessing of the beer we will pray that the world will follow that example:

Creation is good. Beer is good. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Bless, + O Lord, this creature beer, which you have produced from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of your holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.







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