Stephen Castle | Westvleteren, Flanders | Aug 10

The Independent -  For more than 160 years the Trappist monks at Saint Sixtus monastery in Flanders have been producing a rich, dark-brown, beer renowned for its exceptional flavour and strength. But an unexpected misfortune has befallen this reclusive community of 26 Cistercians: their beer has been named the best in the world.

So great is demand that stocks are exhausted and sales have been stopped. As hits on the monastery website reach 2,000 a day, Saint Sixtus has been deluged with requests for media interviews from the US to Bulgaria.

At the gates of the monastery, near the French border and 50 miles from Calais, a notice directs visitors across the road to the claustrum, an exhibition on monastic life. Normally, the only outsiders allowed to visit the silent order are those who seek spiritual contemplation.

But Mark Bode, co-ordinator of the claustrum, has agreed to speak to The Independent and leads the way to a spartan office where he explains the principle behind the brewery. "It is to produce as much beer as we need to finance the community," Mr Bode says. "We make the beer to live but we do not live for beer." Hence their anxiety about the accolade by www.rateBeer.com, an independent US-based site for beer enthusiasts, which named Westvleteren Abt 12 the best. One of the two other monastery brews. Westvleteren Extra 8, is rated as the ninth best.

Most brewers would be delighted; the monks of Saint Sixtus are not. Mr Bode says: "They are worried about the publicity, about the hype around the beer. This is double-edged. It is a problem." He lives in the nearby town of Poperinge but knows how the monks think because he spent a year in their community. "Outsiders don't understand," he says. "They say, 'You are successful, make more beer; you will make more money'. But the monks believe the most important thing is monastic life, not the brewery."

So production will remain at 4,500 hectolitres a year, between 70 and 75 days of brewing. Belgium has more than 100 breweries and exports many "abbey" beers, only some of which have links to religious orders. But there are only six Trappist beers, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Achel, Chimay, Rochefort and Orval, all of which are brewed by monks.

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