One of the best things about home brewing is sharing the brew, and even better, teaching others who want to learn. Tonight I’ll be teaching some good friends who were long time Trappist monks how to brew all-grain. I taught them extract about a year and a half ago and they are making some decent beer from kits. Tonight I am showing them my BIAB 2.5 gallon methods. We’ll be making a dry stout that will be ready for St Paddy’s day. Don’t worry, come spring I’ll show them how to batch sparge and we’ll do a Trappist Ale, I’m thinking maybe a Westmalle based recipe. My goal is simply to show them how easy it can be.
I just think its cool that little old me gets to teach Trappist monks how to brew.
That’s pretty cool.
That’s pretty cool. You should have them trade you some Boysenberry jam in exchange 
Wow, maybe you’re an incarnation of the person who got them going on brewing in the first place! History does repeat itself. 
My brother runs St. Joseph’s Abbey gift store for the monks so I’m all set Trappist Preserve wise. These guys didn’t make jam while they were there, their work was in the Abbey’s other income generator at the time (this is way pre-brewery), which was making vestments. They actually have a part time business out of their home making vestments so they are good for sewing related favors.
Well that went great. They totally feel confident that they can do all-grain and we had a lot of fun. I’m used to doing a lot of coaching at work so I’m a decent teacher and fairly patient. It turns out that they have an RO system at their house and have had the water from it tested because one of them is has a hobby as a plant breeder and needs to know that for making fertilizer blends. I’ll sit down with them on Bru’n water soon which is good because I’ve been meaning to learn water chemistry a bit deeper. I purposely didn’t get too deep into water chemistry, I just showed them my water report and the target profile and explained my additions. I think a separate session for just that topic will be easier to digest. I actually let them borrow Palmer and BLAM. They already got a kick out of the pictures of Trappist Monks. One of them was secretary for Fr. Thomas Keating, who some may have heard of as a well known theologian and Abbot of St Joseph’s, and because of that attended the yearly conferences of Trappist Abbots so he knows monks from pretty much every Trappist Abbey and keeps in touch with several.
Nice work. That had to be pretty cool.
Yep, I hang out with these guys fairly often. It turns out living in a place with strict rules for a long time makes for a lot of great stories about breaking the rules.
I know this is none of my business, but I’m curious. Why are they no longer monks?
The same reasons none of us our monks.
Gotcha.
Potty mouth and too many tattoos? Cuz those are the only reasons I’m not.
My condolences to Mrs. Klickitat.
Not necessary. She likes tattoos and has worse potty mouth than me.
You are indeed a lucky man!
I was referring to you not referring to relations with Mrs Klickitat as a reason for not being a monk. But just kidding of course.
Well the guys did the first all-grain on their own and they did great. I went over and supervised and didn’t need to say anything crucial. They even nailed the target OG. Since everything went smoothly I was able to get into water chemistry, showed them bru’n water, and really hammered home term temp.
This is clearly the best part of teaching, having your students demonstrate their learning, knowledge and understanding. It is a testimony of your ability to teach. Teaching only takes place when there is clear evidence of learning. And in this case, when there is drinkable beer! Congratulations!
As you know teaching is a great way to learn. Beginning minds ask amazing questions.
Truth. Keep asking questions and questioning practices. It ensures progress.