Beer as a way to recover your strength.

 

Fasting, prayer, work and studies are the duties of monks. The monks are tireless builders, pioneers, and farmers. It is necessary to be able to recover from the often hard physical efforts and to supplement the sometimes low nutritional value of a frugal meal.

 

The first references to clerical consumption come from the European continent and show that ale (a non-hopped brew) was widely drunk in medieval ecclesiastical circles.

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But beer was most often consumed when regional climatic conditions did not permit the production of wine.

 

The rule of Saint Benedict of Aniane (ob. 822) states that a ration of beer in his monasteries was twice the amount of wine allowed, while the rations for days of fasting consisted of a roll and salt "cum aqua aut cervisia" (with water or beer).

 

Research has well established the importance of beer in the diet and medicine of monks in the Middle Ages .