Roger Protz Brother Michael brewing at Mount St Bernard. - Credit: Roger Protz Can beer be heavenly? If it’s brewed by monks, there’s a good chance a celestial choir will burst into loud hosannas – and the choristers would certainly relish a beer brewed by Trappists in a Belgian monastery. Belgium is famous for having six monasteries where monks brew on the premises and they were joined in 2017 by brothers in Leicestershire who opened the first monastic brewery since the Reformation. The Westmalle abbey near Antwerp has released a beer that has caused great interest throughout Europe and is available here. The beer is called Extra (4.8%) and it joins the abbey’s long-standing stronger beers, Dubbel (7%) and Tripel (9.5%). In fact, Extra has been brewed for some time but it was made only for the monks’ private consumption. But after years of lobbying by beer lovers it has now been put on commercial sale.