Sister Doris, the last brewmaster nun: "God does not want sad people"

Sister Doris, the last brewmaster nun: "God does not want sad people"

Sister Doris Engelhard has a very specific mission. She is a brewer. What's more, she's the last remaining nun brewmaster. And through his hands pass each year the more than 300,000 liters of beer that are brewed in the Franciscan Abbey of Mallersdorf, in Bavaria.

At 65 years old, this nun has been a master brewer for more than 45 years and is a true force of nature because at 3 in the morning the brewing of a drink loved and admired throughout the world begins.

In an interview in the Osservatore Romano, he affirms that he adores his work and that he does it with joy, as a service to the Lord: “You can serve God anywhere, regardless of profession or trade what do you do It is nice to please God, my sisters and also our clients”.

Sister Doris herself explains the historical link between beer and women, including those in the Church. It is said that beer was invented by a woman ten thousand years ago. “There are several versions. It is thought that the ancient beer was born, probably in Mesopotamia, from a forgotten piece of bread that caught moisture and therefore began to ferment. The resulting liquid had amazing properties. This should have happened about 10,000 years ago!” he says.

An ancient drink, perhaps even older than wine. And he further states that “in the Epic of Gilgameš in the second millennium BC there is talk of a drink similar to beer made with dates and barley. Scholars believe that the beginning of the development of human culture is closely related to the art of brewing."

Doris Engelhard brewing 300,000 liters of beer a year

Sister Doris, the last teacher nun Brewer:

In addition, the first goddess considered the matron of beer was the Sumerian Ninkasi, followed by Athor, an Egyptian, and Isthar, a Babylonian divinity. Egyptians, Assyro-Babylonians, Persians, Cretans, Greeks and Byzantines: women who have dedicated themselves for thousands of years to the preparation of this drink.

Until the Middle Ages, beer was brewed almost exclusively by female hands. “It was the mother's responsibility to provide sustenance, which also included drinks. Immediately after the bread in the ovens, beer was produced because in those hot environments a residue of powdered yeast circulated in the air that facilitated the fermentation of beer. In Germany there is a saying that goes: 'Today I bake, tomorrow I make beer'. To produce beer you need a grain that contains a good percentage of starch so that it ferments and some spices to give it flavor. The Sumerians called their beer kasch. The word still survives today in the Slavic word kas which means bread soup”, teaches this brewing nun.

The advance introduced by Santa Hildegarda

A fundamental element to enjoy the beer we drink today was introduced by Santa Hildegarda, a doctor of the Church, and a woman of enormous talents. She was a nun, but at the same time a botanist, poet, linguist, philosopher and writer. But when it came to beer, he discovered the properties of hops, an ingredient that transformed medieval beer into what we drink today.

I think Hildegarda was an intelligent and wise woman. She had the courage to tell men what is healthy, she certainly had no problem with emancipation! She was sure of herself and did what she thought was right ”, affirms this nun.

In the Middle Ages, numerous monasteries, especially in Bavaria and Belgium, but also in Italy, became producers of this cloudy and nutritious drink. Not exactly what we drink today, but a more rudimentary and spicy version, the medieval beer was much preferred to the dirty and unhealthy waters of the convents.

Mallersdorf Abbey has been linked to beer production since the 12th century. After a long interruption, beer production was resumed in 1881 and then definitively in the 1970s by the sister Doris. Until thirty years ago, the monastery of Schönbrunn, near Dachau, in Germany, also had a brewery run by nuns inside.

Today, sadly, there are very few religious breweries left like Sister Doris, who tirelessly gets up at 3am every Sunday to get into the brewhouse.

“Mallersdorf was founded by the Benedictines from Bamberg in 1109. Since the Benedictines were self-sufficient they began to brew beer in this period. There is a bull from 1432 that allows the Benedictines of Mallersdorf to sell beer in barrels. I myself have worked in the convent brewery since 1966 and have been in charge of it since 1975. I am a very normal brewer and I try, like any brewmaster, make a good beer”.

Sister Doris is a story of vocation and passion. She wanted to study agriculture and do manual labor, but a nun suggested that she take care of the brewery. Thus she began her apprenticeship in 1966 in the convent's brewery with Sister Lisana, brewery teacher .

"In 1974-75 I attended a professional institute for beer production in Ulm and graduated. Brewing represents for me the work for healthy and good food. I love my job, I love the smell of beer and working with yeast and barley. I'm glad when people enjoy our beer with joy. In fact, you should be able to enjoy everything you do, lest you become unbearable. Surely God doesn't want sad and dissatisfied people. There are so many things that make life enjoyable and worth living. For me it's working at the brewery and being able to drink a good beer. Beer is the lowest alcohol drink and because it also contains carbon dioxide, it's digestible. It's a healthy drink... if you don't overdo it!", he concludes.

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