Abbey Beverage Company

Abbey Beverage Company

• Abbey Beverage Company is the producer of Monks' Ale and Monks' Wit. Monks' Ale has been available in New Mexico since December of 2005 and Monks' Wit since October of 2010. • We distribute Monks' Ale and Monks' Wit in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, eastern Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas in 12 ounce bottles and on draft in 1/6th and 1/2 barrel kegs. We plan to continue a slow, controlled expansion of the brands into other states. Direct internet sales are available to consumers in states not serviced by our distributors and where importation is legal. Contact info@abbeybeveragecompany.com for more information about direct sales. • The Benedictine monks of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert control 84 % of the Abbey Beverage Company through a separate corporation, St. Luke's Corporation. In the spring of 2010, we acquired the small minority interest of the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Pecos, New Mexico. • Our products are brewed on a small scale at the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in a closed brewery (no guests are allowed) and under contract at Sierra Blanca Brewing Company in Moriarty. Abbey Beverage Company controls all the key ingredients and packaging materials at our brewery and Sierra Blanca Brewing Company. • A new brewery has been completed at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert. Brewing in this new, separate facility will begin after out federal and state small commercial brewing licenses are transferred in 2011. The new facility will start as a small-scale pilot brewery and slowly expand to develop new styles of beers and produce specialty and seasonal beers on draft only. Once fully licensed, the new brewery will be open for visits on a limited basis. We also plan to open a tasting room at the Monastery in the spring of 2012. • In 2010, the Monastery of Christ in the Desert planted an experimental hop yard. In 2011, the hop yard was expanded. Today, ten varieties of hops, all native to New Mexico are thriving. Harvests occur in late August through early September. Monks, guests, and daily visitors participate in the harvest. As the current rhizomes mature in the next several years, the hop yard has the potential of expansion up to 5 acres. Hops from the Monastery will be used to brew new varieties of beer at the pilot brewery. • Monks are actively involved in operation of the brewery and the hop yards. The head brewer is highly experienced professional brewer and layperson, Brad Kraus. • New brands will be developed "with care and prayer" in the coming years. The new styles will derive from the monastic tradition of brewing beer. • Our focus in all our work is "to bring everything to perfection for the glory of God" as the Rule of Saint Benedict instructs us.