For some time now, Belgian beers have been a staple on the shelves of well-stocked beverage retailers. Even before the rise of craft beer, Belgium had become a popular export country for beer specialties. With breweries like the former monastery brewery Leffe, this is no surprise!
Beer as a cure-all
The origins of the Leffe brewery date back to 1240, when the monks of the Notre-Dame de Leffe Abbey decided to brew beer for health reasons. Due to its location, the monastery was always a popular destination for pilgrims. Visitors were always welcome to the monks, but in times of plague and cholera they also represented a significant health risk for the abbey and its visitors. Beer served as a strengthening drink for the people and was also a safe food, as the water was boiled during the brewing process. Germs contained in the water were reliably killed and people could drink without worrying about catching diseases in an already weakened state. The plague was eventually over, but people continued to enjoy drinking Leffe's good beer. But when the love of beer eventually got out of hand and the parishioners of the surrounding villages preferred to have a beer on Sundays rather than open their prayer books, the abbot had to speak out and restore order. Political confusion led to the monastery being closed and only reopened in 1929 by Abbot Nys and Albert Lootvoet. Fortunately, the monks' old recipes were carefully preserved and could be used again for beers such as Leffe Blonde when it reopened.
Tradition obliges
Even after the horrors of the French Revolution, things were not quiet and peaceful at the Leffe brewery. Numerous changes in the management team caused nonstop tension and turmoil. Nevertheless, the brewers proudly held on to the centuries-old traditions and recipes. Leffe is still one of the traditional, hand-brewed beers for which Belgium is so famous. Even if not every bottle is actually brewed in Belgium, you can still be sure of the excellent quality and good taste of Leffe beers. With beers like Brune or their winter beer , Leffe does not always comply with the purity law, but that has long since ceased to be the only unique selling point when it comes to good beer.
Leffe – brewing tradition since 1240!
