“From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world,” St. Arnulf of Metz. “Beer makes you sleep easy. Easy sleep makes you not sin. Not sinning gets you into heaven,” an anonymous German monk. “It is my design to die in the brewhouse; let ale be placed to my mouth when I am […]

I have to be honest, there’s something so empty to me in big, grand Catholic evangelical efforts. You know the type – “transforming your family with 3 easy things;” “an evening workshop that will change your marriage forever.”  The more dynamic it claims to be, and the grander the promise of impacting the entire society, the […]

So you gave up dessert for Lent? Good for you, you wimp! Once upon a time, German monks ate nothing for the entirety of the Lenten fast. No bread, no salad, no fruit—nothing. Beat that. How did they survive, you ask? By imbibing large quantities of heavy, calorie rich beer, of course! Around 700 years ago, German monks in the town […]

For the past few years, I’ve been on what I like to call a beer adventure, meaning I’m trying as many different beers as I can. As I try different styles and breweries, I’m always amazed that four ingredients—water, yeast, malt, and hops—can produce such a wide variety of flavors. Anyway, the more beer I’ve tasted, the more I’ve […]

“From man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world.” – St. Arnulf of Metz Ah, beer. This blessed brew is one of life’s great enjoyments and an incontrovertible sign of God’s great love for us. Brewed by monks for centuries, beer has always had a close relationship to Catholicism. In fact, Holy Mother Church has proven her […]

There is Protestant drinking and there is Catholic drinking, and the difference is more than mere quantity. I have no scientific data to back up my claims, nor have I completed any formal studies. But I have done a good bit of, shall we say, informal study, which for a hypothesis like this is probably the best kind. To […]

One of the great things about being Catholic is that the Church has quite literally thought of everything at some point or another. Some inventive cleric even thought to include a beer blessing in the Rituale Romanum (my parish also has an annual wine blessing). Creation is good. Beer is good. Let us rejoice and be glad […]