Surprise: Leffe beer is not made by monks



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If the fact that Leffe beer is not made by monks in a Belgian abbey shocks you, join the class action club.

A beer drinker was so surprised that Leffe beer is made by beer giant Anheuser-Busch and most notably not by men of the cloth, he filed a lawsuit against the beer manufacturer, according to Reuters.

Henry Vazquez of Florida filed a class action lawsuit in Miami last week, stating that he was "deceived by (Anheuser-Busch's) labeling and packaging into believing that Leffe Beer is brewed in an abbey, and thereby brewed in smaller quantities under the supervision of monks." That deceit is what caused Vazquez to overpay for Leffe, according to the complaint.

Leffe beer, however, does happen to have a history of being brewed in abbeys, Consumerist reported. The beer recipe dates back to 1240 until the abbey and brewery were destroyed in the 1790s. The recipe was eventually licensed to a brewery, and through some mergers, ultimately wound up being made in a factory by Anheuser-Busch.

"Their marketing quite clearly shows Leffe to be a specialty craft beer," Natalie Rico, a lawyer for Vazquez, told Reuters in a phone interview. "Consumers believe they are buying something that is limited quantity and very high quality. That is not the case."

The lawsuit noted that other beers call their product an "Abbey style ale" if they aren't made by monks and stated that Anheuser-Busch should have done the same.

Various media outlets did note that this is the same court where a similar lawsuit went to trial, also involving Anheuser-Busch. In that case, the company was sued over passing off Beck's as a German beer despite being made in St. Louis.

An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Eater.com that they brew Leffe under an agreement they have with the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe.

"The Union of Belgian Breweries provides guidance for certifying that a beer is a Belgian Abbey beer, and Leffe meets these criteria," the representative said to the food news website. "We believe that the labels on Leffe are accurate and will vigorously defend our company against the lawsuit."