It is not news that has been shouted out from the rooftops, but another Trappist brewery is about to lose its coveted Authentic Trappist Product (ATP) label, only given to those ales whose brewing is supervised by a member of the Trappist order. Austria’s only designated ATP brewery is situated at Engelszell monastery on the banks of the Danube, a former Cistercian abbey that was resettled by Trappists in 1925.

The four remaining Trappist monks have announced their intentions to leave the Abbey, which has put the future of the wonderful Sift-Engelszell Gregorius Trappist beer, a strong, dark Quadruple-style beer, full bodied and with a sweet finish, notes of chocolate and dark roasted malt and an uncompromising ABV of 10.5% at risk.

The decline of the Trappist order and its knock-on effect on the range of the world’s beers continues apace.