Monks at a Belgian abbey have been forced to stop selling their famous beer after it was voted the best in the world and was promptly sold out. The abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in western Belgium is home to some 30 Cistercian and Trappist1 monks who lead a life of seclusion, prayer, manual labor—and beer-brewing. A survey of thousands of beer enthusiasts from 65 countries on the RateBeer Web site in June rated the Westvleteren 122 beer as the world’s best. But the abbey only has a limited brewing capacity, and was not able to cope with the beer’s sudden popularity. "Our shop is closed because all our beer has been sold out," said a message on the abbey’s answering machine, which it calls the "beer phone." And the abbey has no intention of boosting its capacity to satisfy market demand. "We are not brewers, we are monks. We brew beer to be able to afford being monks," the father abbot said on the abbey’s Web site. Monk Mark Bode told De Morgen daily: "Outsiders don’t understand why we are not raising production. But for us life in the abbey comes first, not the brewery."

    1. 西多会（Cistercium）是天主教的一个分支，1098年由本笃派革新者在法国创立，强调沉思冥想；特拉普派（Trappe）又是西多会的一个分支，强调苦行和缄口不言。

    2. 据该修道院网站上的信息，此处的12多半是指啤酒的窖藏年份。

    比利时一所修道院酿造的啤酒被评为世界最佳，随即销售一空，修士们因此不得不停止了销售。比利时西部威斯特佛兰德伦的圣西克斯塔修道院居住着大约30位西多会和特拉普派修士，他们的生活包括隐居、祈祷、体力劳动——以及酿造啤酒。今年6月，“品评啤酒”网站举办了一次调查，来自65个国家的数千名啤酒爱好者将“威斯特佛兰德伦12”评为世界上最好的啤酒。不过，修道院的酿造能力有限，因此无法应付啤酒陡然大受欢迎的局面。被修道院称为“啤酒电话”的电话应答机里留下了这样一条讯息：“所有啤酒都已售完，我们的店铺也已关门。”此外，修道院也没有提高生产能力以满足市场需求的打算。修道院院长在修道院的网站上说：“我们是修士，不是酿酒商。我们酿啤酒的目的是维持自己的清修生活。”修士马克·伯德对每日发行的《晨报》说：“外人不理解我们为什么不增加产量，但对我们来说，首要的是清修生活，不是酿酒。”

    Remarks：

    整天在自称“可能是世界上最好的啤酒”（probably the best beer in the world）的嘉士伯，看看人家的境界！