Monk’s launch website to beat resellers

If there were an award for most coveted beer in the world, the Belgian monks would be serious contenders for it. The Belgian monks have launched a website to sell their coveted beer to prevent unauthorized resellers from profiting from their product.

Customers can purchase a crate of Trappist Westvleteren beer from Saint-Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren, Flanders for €45 a little over $50 USD. The monks have requested that customers not to sell their beer to third parties.

In the past, the abbey’s sales were limited to two crates only to private customers for will-call. However, profiteers have made the monks go online to end the black-market sales.

The monks were dismayed when they saw their beer being resold in a Dutch supermarket. There were 7,200 bottles stockpiled at the supermarket.

After this incident, Brother Manu van Hecke, the abbot of the Saint-Sixtus abbey said that he wanted the Cistercian monastery to maintain control, which is why they’ve begun experimenting with online orders. Brother Manu van Hecke said that the new sales system meets the needs of Westvleteren enthusiasts. He clarified it will remain only to private customers. Brother Manu van Hecke added that the website isn’t accessible to professional buyers and is only accessible to consumers. He went on to say that they wanted to give as many people as possible the chance to buy the beer at the right price. He warned that anyone who is found to be abusing the system “will be denied access to the online store.”

The monks brew three beers from 6,000 hectoliters. The first is a blonde, which is 5.8 percent alcohol. The second and third is Westvleteren 8 and 12. Westvleteren 12 is regarded as one of the best beers in the world at 10.2 percent alcohol content.

The system seems quite secure. It will be intriguing to see how this system impacts demand for the highly coveted beer.

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