St. Bernardus Brewery

St. Bernardus Brewery is a Belgian brewery based in Watou. Its official history describes how Trappists fled Mont des Cats to Watou in the early 1900s, took up cheese-making, and how their vacated dairy was later taken over by Evariste Deconinck. After the Second World War, Deconinck was invited by the Trappist monks at Westvleteren to brew and market their Trappist beers under licence, and a new brewery was established next to the cheese workshop.

In the early 1900s the Trappists fled the Mont des Cats and escaped to Watou, where they took up residence at the 'Patershof' farm, renaming it the 'Réfuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard'. In France they had to pay tax on their revenues, which was not yet the case in Belgium. Safe in their new home, the monks took up cheese-making. As France took on a more tolerant attitude towards religious communities, the monks of Mont des Cats decided to cross back over the border, and their vacated dairy was taken over by Evariste Deconinck. During 1934–1946 Deconinck expanded the dairy, which produced two branded cheeses: 'St Bernard Watou' and 'Port Salut de Watou'. Not long after the Second World War, Evariste Deconinck was invited by the Trappist monks at Westvleteren to brew and market their Trappist beers under licence, originally covering a 30-year period. Brewmaster Mathieu Szafranski brought his know-how to the new site, bringing both recipes and the famed St Sixtus yeast as a new brewery was established right next to the cheese workshop. The cheese-making business was sold in 1959.

Product categories. Trappist beers (brewed under licence from Westvleteren)

1. Home | St.Bernardus
2. History | Brewery | St.Bernardus