sintbernardus [dot] be Founded in 1946 in Watou, the brewers town near the French border in West Flanders. For nearly fifty years its main purpose was to produce and distribute a range of beers called Trappist St. Sixtus, which were licensed imitations of the three brews produced on a much smaller scale at the nearby Trappist Abbey of the same name in Westvleteren. In the 1992 the license came to an end and the brewery had to prepare itself for the market place, essentially stripped of its brands. Their new range of beers is called St. Bernardus and it consists of six stock brands St. Bernardus Wit 5.5% abv, St. Bernardus Pater 6 6.7% abv, St. Bernardus Tripel 8% abv, St. Bernardus Prior 8 8% abv, St. Bernardus Abt 12 10% abv, Watou Tripel 7.5% abv originally designed for the French market. All beers are available in 11.2 fl. oz. / 330ml bottles and in 25.4 fl. oz. / 750ml painted bottles. All styles are bottle conditioned (second fermentation with yeast in the bottle), unfiltered and unpasteurized. St. Bernardus Wit, Pater 6, Tripel, Prior 8 and Abt 12 are also available in 20L kegs.
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