Mount Angel Abbey has been in Mount Angel since 1882 and is the only monastery in the United States with a brewery that still brews beer in the centuries-old monastic tradition.
Lisa Wood / OPB
Nestled in the trees on the hill above the town of Mount Angel, Oregon, sits Mount Angel Abbey.
It was founded in the Willamette Valley in 1882 by Benedictine monks from Switzerland and, after a disastrous fire in 1892, they rebuilt on the hilltop.
The Abbey is an expansive complex that houses a monastery, a college, a library, a museum, a guesthouse and retreat center, and it is the only monastery in the United States with a brewery that still brews in the centuries-old monastic tradition.
All walks of life are welcomed to experience the Abbey, which houses over 2,000 guests a year in overnight stays and hosts events like the Saint Benedict Festival and the Bach Festival.
Father Vincent, who has been at the monastery 65 years, says the brewery serves as a kind of outreach.
“The monks like to go down there and mingle with the crowds and even help out whenever they can,” said Vincent. “But there are a lot of questions that are asked and people are drawn to come up and see for themselves and visit.”
Father Martin tastes a new batch of beer and ponders the flavor profile.
Lisa Wood / OPB
Father Martin, the brewer and general manager of the brewery and St. Michael Taproom, brews about 230 barrels of beer a year with just a few helping hands.
“Benedictine monks have a really long history in brewing. After the fall of the Roman Empire with the collapse of Western civilization, there was very little structure left and the monks became the brewers of the day,” said Father Martin.
“They needed beer for themselves because they couldn’t drink the water, so for hundreds of years until the renaissance, monks were really the commercial brewers of the day.”
Martin was a software engineer for 10 years before he decided to become a priest and his bishop sent him to Mount Angel Seminary. He has been there for 30 years now.
“When it comes to work and craft, the rule of St. Benedict permits the artisans of the monastery to pursue their arts, their crafts, but if it becomes a matter of pride where the monk feels like he’s bestowing something on the monastery, then he’s no longer to practice that,” said Martin.
“The monk’s life is a spiritual life, not a business life, not an art life. The monk’s number one pursuit is his own spiritual growth.”
The small but mighty Benedictine Brewery in the back of The St. Michael Taproom.
Lisa Wood, Lisa Wood / OPB
Father Martin gravitates towards Belgian and Bavarian styles because that’s what people associate with the Belgian trappists and their famous beers.
And when it comes to sourcing ingredients, they don’t have to go far. Some of the hops are grown on their land and the biggest ingredient in beer, water, comes from their own well.
Other than the hum of patrons enjoying themselves, the taproom is quiet — and that’s by design. There’s no music and no TV: just a space for people to gather, socialize, and enjoy the fruits of Father Martin’s work.
“It’s a special feeling when I can be back brewing a batch of beer and I hear the happy roar in the taproom,” said Father Martin. “There’s people here enjoying themselves and I do hope they’re experiencing something unique in our Benedictine taproom.”
But before anything is served, Father Martin adds what he calls their “secret ingredient”: Every day he blesses the tap room with a prayer and holy water.
Tasters of brews, including Father Martin’s Cascadian dark beer “Black Habit,” right.
Lisa Wood / OPB