TOPIC:

This came in via the EBCU channel. A mining company near the Rochefort monastery in Belgium has applied to deepen one of its quarries which will dry up the spring used by the brewery. The company has offered to provide the brewery with an alternative water supply but there is a concern that the taste of Rochefort beer will be adversely affected.

There's a petition aimed at the local council and Walloonese government here[/url:28n4b9p8].

Looks like an extra 400 signed petitions since I looked at it this morning.

I love Rochefort and I've signed the petition but would it be terribly controversial to suggest that the water is at best a bit player in a beer like this?

but do we want to find out?

Water is the underlying quality that makes a beer what it is. Guinness would not be what it is without the liffey water. Pilsner urquell would not be what it is without the soft pilsen water.
Water is vital to beer.
Nowadays we understand water chemistry so it's less important. Humans can now recreate water as we see fit. However, can the monks do that, do they have chemists/scientists to do that for them? I'm not sure they do.

"Saruman":1iry2h1v wrote: Water is the underlying quality that makes a beer what it is. Guinness would not be what it is without the liffey water. [/quote:1iry2h1v]

Diageo get their water from the Wicklow Mountains and from what I've heard they actually take a surprisingly small interest in it's actual chemical make up. Besides that, considering the recipe for Guinness is constantly changing to adapt to consumer preferences I really doubt they think the water supply is much of an issue. If it came to it they will always chemically balance the water supply to suit their needs. Rochefort on the other hand probably won't want to compromise like that.