Country Monks Brewing, Subiaco Abbey‘s commercial brewing operation, announced on Facebook two weeks ago that it will be shutting down production on Aug. 14 “until at least Jan. 1.”
Subiaco’s brewmeister, Brother Sebastian Richey, will soon begin seminary studies at St. John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. The abbey will evaluate the long-term viability of returning to commercial production at the start of 2024, the post said.
Benedictine monks brewing beer at the monastery is a tradition dating back for more than a century, but commercial production didn’t begin until 2018 when Subiaco was issued a small brewery permit after the Monastic Council approved Fort Smith native Brother Basil Taylor‘s vision of brewing for the public. Taylor, an experienced home brewer, joined the monastery in 2012.
Brian ChilsonOver the past few days Country Monks Brewing has been writing about the history of the brewery and the challenges it’s faced the past few years in a series of Facebook posts detailing the beginning of the canning operation, opening the taproom, christening the elixirs with distinctive names and labels, partnering with Logan County neighbor Preston Rose Farm and Brewing Co. on a peanut brittle beer and navigating the pandemic.
This Saturday is the last chance for the public to visit the brewery for a while. There are no beers left on tap, but the brewery posted last week that it still had a very limited amount in cans of Abbey Amber, Isidor Irish Red, Scholastic Stout, Peters Chair Pale Ale and Pine Ridge Pilsner.
