Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery, the only producer of Trappist ale in England, has launched a new UK trade store and mailing list for independent bottle shops, pubs, bars and hospitality businesses.

Using trade store integration from Breww, the UK’s leading brewery software management tool, the platform allows domestic trade customers to order cases and kegs of Tynt Meadow and Tynt Meadow Blond direct from the brewery, shipped via APC’s liquid service.

Since the launch of Tynt Meadow in 2018, the brewery’s beers have reached drinkers far beyond the Abbey walls, with distribution across the United Kingdom and international markets. Yet in Britain, awareness of Trappist beer is still often shaped primarily by continental examples.

Trappist is not a flavour profile, nor is it simply another word for “Belgian beer”. It is a designation governed by the Authentic Trappist Product criteria: products must be made within the immediate surroundings of a Trappist abbey, under the supervision of monks or nuns, with proceeds used for the needs of the monastic community, charitable works and to the benefit of the wider Order.

The launch of the trade store and newsletter is intended not only to make access easier for UK trade customers with no MOQ, but also to build a closer relationship with the independent businesses that support the category. Through the new trade mailing list, Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery will share news and insights from the brewery, helping resource trade customers to better understand the beers, Trappist produce and the monastic tradition behind them.

Mount St Bernard Abbey first brewed beer back in the nineteenth century. More broadly, Historic England notes that monks were brewing beer on a large scale in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries at religious houses including St Osyth’s Priory (Essex), Kirkstall Abbey (Leeds) and Fountains Abbey (North Yorkshire). In that sense, the brewery’s work is not an imported idea from abbeys across Europe but part of a longer – if somewhat interrupted – English monastic story.

Peter Grady, Brewery Manager at Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery, said: “We are pleased to make it easier for UK trade customers to buy direct from the brewery. This is not only about improving access to the beers but about building stronger relationships with the independent hospitality and retail businesses.

“Through the trade store and newsletter, we hope to share more of the life, work and tradition behind Mount St Bernard Abbey, while helping more people discover that authentic Trappist beer is being brewed right here in England, on our own door step”.

To celebrate the launch of the trade store, Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery is offering the UK’s last remaining keg stock of Three Rules: a unique collaboration brew between Tynt Meadow, Zundert and La Trappe.  A limited amount of 20L kegs are available for trade customers to purchase (limit of 2 per customer) via the trade store.

The list price on the trade store includes a £20 deposit for the keg.  All Three Rules kegs ordered for national delivery via APC are returnable to James Clay after use. The £20 deposit can be reclaimed through James Clay only and not through Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery.

For UK trade customers, the new store creates a more direct route to Tynt Meadow and Tynt Meadow Blond, while helping Mount St Bernard Trappist Brewery build closer ties with the independent businesses championing authentic Trappist beer at home.