Affligem, an Abbey Beer made in Belgium, is about to take on Stella and Leffe in the on-trade
Two beers a day, and complete silence. Those were the two most important rules at the monastery in Affligem in the 11th century, to the frustration of one of the monks, Brother Tobias. Keen to make sure that two beers really counted for something, he became responsible for brewing, and gradually increased the strength of the beer. If anyone did notice, they didn't say anything. But then they couldn't, could they?
Like many marketing legends, the story may have been subject to a little promotional spin, but the great thing about 930-year-old legends is that they are almost impossible to disprove.
Some things haven't changed at Affligem, which lies about half an hour's drive from Brussels in what is now Belgium.
Parts of the original abbey still remain and Affligem is still produced, albeit at an outside brewery under monastic licence. The monks still like a drink, although these days they only visit the monastery's bar on Sundays and holidays. What's more, they don't have to order their drinks in semaphore - the vow of silence is no longer taken.
Affligem is the latest beer from Belgium looking to establish a place in the beer-drinking repertoires of the UK's bar customers. Stella Artois has long since become a UK-brewed, mass-market product, leaving only its Interbrew stablemate Leffe as a widely-available genuine Belgian beer.
Heineken and Interbrew, in spite of the agreement under which the latter brews the former's beer under licence in the UK, are fierce rivals on the continent, and this led to the giant Dutch firm purchasing the Affligem brewery two years ago.
Big multinational companies taking over small breweries almost inevitably spells bad news. But in relative terms Affligem was so small that it would have made no sense to buy the smaller brewer in order to close it down or make it produce mass-market beer. Heineken was looking for something more, namely a product that would give it a footing in the aspirational top end of the UK on-trade.
To this end Heineken is investing around €1m per year for three years in modernising the Affligem brewery, while at the same time maintaining a hands-off policy of allowing the beer to be produced the way it always has been. This includes the use of hop flowers rather than pellets - Styrian Goldings from Kent and Saaz from the Continent. The beer is top-fermented in the same way as British ales, rather than bottom-fermented as with lagers.
Although Affligem is 6.8 per cent ABV on the Continent, the UK duty system mean that the six per cent ABV variant being imported by London-based Turnkey Drinks is more realistically-priced as well as being accessible to UK drinkers. The intention is that it should be served in upmarket venues in branded glasses which are part of Turnkey's support package for stockists.
The Affligem brewery will soon have a capacity approaching 400,000 hectolitres per year and will be capable of making significant inroads into some of the 84 foreign markets in which Heineken operates. Prior to the takeover the brewery's output was a mere 38,000 hectolitres, increasing to 92,000 last year and a projected 112,000 for 2002.
Affligem follows in the long tradition of brewing in monasteries. Half a dozen monasteries still make their own beer and only this can be known as Trappist Beer. Abbey Beer is not a protected description, but of the beers described in this way, Affligem is one of the genuine Abbey Beers, given its heritage, the fact that the monastery still licenses its production and, not least of all, the fact that it is still enjoyed by monks.
Turnkey Drinks, 020 7738 1823.