Father Karel Stautemas: ‘We had the books with the old recipes, but nobody could read them.’ Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

A 220-year-old beer recipe is resurrected by a Belgian monks

Monks at Grimbergen Abbey have started to brew again the Grimbergen beer after rediscovering the original ingredients that have taken more than 220 years. The Grimbergen beer was a fabled medieval beer whose brand was adopted by mass in the 1950s and was founded in 1128 but turned down three times in all.

The announcement was made by Abbey's subprior, Father Karel Stautemas in the presence of the town’s mayor and 120 journalists and enthusiasts. The stautemas admitted that it might be best not to drink too much for the alcohol contains 10.8% alcohol by volume.

The recipes book was all in old Latin and Old Dutch so no one could read them, Stautemas said. The Stautemas have spent hours leafing through each page of the books and have discovered ingredient lists for beers brewed in previous centuries, the type of bottles, and a list of beers produced centuries ago.

The new beer is being made in partnership with the producer of the Grimbergen beers which has been sold around the world and Alken-Maes which sells it on the Belgian market- Carlsberg. According to the Stautemas, the royalties from all Grimbergen beers would allow the monks to live in the monastery and help people who came to knock their door.