12th Abbey Brewing Co. - The Tradition Continues... The tradition of brewing beer has been a naturally perfect fit in Ireland for over 5000 years. The unique mild climate and soft weather of our fair island have allowed our fertile soil to produce truly excellent barely since the dawn of Irish agriculture. Irish ale, known at the time as Coirm, was principally brewed in monasteries, which were the cornerstones of Irish brewing for many centuries. Even Saint Patrick himself had a priest, named Mescan, who worked as his personal brewer. It is suggested that, at the time, beer was preferred to water and that up to a gallon of beer per person would have been consumed daily! The 12th Century was the golden age of monasticism in Ireland. The monks of the dominant Cistercian Order were known in Ireland for their impressive, picturesque abbeys as well as their orderly approach to balancing their religious obligations with their domestic responsibilities as farmers and brewers. Cistercian monastic life was characterized by a devotion to hard manual labor and self sufficiency, pioneering many of the ecological farming ideals which are still in practice today. During this period, the 12th Century Bective Abbey was founded as Beatitude Dei , which in Latin translates as the "Blessedness of God". This Cistercian abbey is situated on the banks of the spectacular Boyne River in County Meath, where the white-robed founding monks sustainably farmed over 4000 acres of land and certainly brewed their own beer. At 12th Abbey Brewing we are proud to continue the tradition of brewing quality beer on these very same banks of the Boyne. Our handcrafted beers are based on hard work using the finest natural ingredients. In other words, like our Cistercian predecessors, nothing but the best will do: naturally filtered spring water, the highest quality hops and only locally sourced Irish base malts. And so the tradition continues……