The St Bernardus story begins with early 20th century French tax law, and a group of monks looking to protect their humble revenues. With the Taxman’s interest growing, the monks abandoned their home in France at Mont des Cats, and took a look a few kilometres over the border to Watou in Belgium, where they settled and established the ‘Réfuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard’. The brethren upped sticks again in the early 1930s, and abandoned the cheese dairy that they had set up, heading back home.

As well as the workings of a Cheesery, the monks left behind the St Bernard name, and the new owner Evariste Deconinck took it on, releasing a cheese under the name St Bernard Watou. In 1946 Deconinck was invited to diversify his business, and the monks of the nearby St. Sixtus Abbey in Westvletern agreed a 30 year deal to brew their beers under licence, as the Abbot had decided to significantly decrease capacity at the Abbey brewery. This was a truly profound moment in the history of St Bernardus, as not only did it result in the foundation of the brewery, but along with brewmaster Mathieu Szafranski came the revered St Sixtus yeast, still in use to this day.

In 1998 current owner Hans Depypere purchased the brewery, the task ahead of him was made evident on the first day of his ownership when an employee plainly told him he was a fool for making the investment, the previous owners having not spent a penny on the place for decades. Following Hans’ investment over the past 25 years, the brewery is now powering through 43,000 hectolitres, with the capacity available to double this.

Onwards to the future of St Bernardus, and CEO Junior Julie Depypere. Julie joined the business in 2011 after a career in bookkeeping and auditing, having originally not wanted to pursue a career in the family business (a story not too dissimilar to a young Master J. Clay).

Under Hans and Julie's stewardship, the brewery has become a household name in Belgian beer, famed for their exceptional Abbey style beers.