For those that know me well, you know I am not given to consume beer (or alcohol in general). But there are times when I will imbibe and order a beer at a restaurant. I generally go with the well know lite beers. I might explore something more local at the recommendation of a friend, but I am not a fan of IPA beers. And now the scourge of IPA beer is affecting religious life here in the United States.

“This month, St. Joseph’s Abbey, located an hour west of Boston in the town of Spencer, announced it was closing America’s only Trappist-run brewery. Spencer Brewery has been unprofitable because its complex and dry Belgian-style beers have been unable to compete with the sweet, hoppy India pale ales, or I.P.A.s, that have raged through the U.S. beer market in the last decade like Mongol horsemen sacking their way through Asia.”

You can read more about this at American Magazine.