(Photo: Konrad Lackerbeck)
Pictured above is Mallersdorf Abbey, a Franciscan convent in southern Germany. 490 nuns live there. They all have different jobs to make the abbey a self-supporting home. Sister Doris Engelhard, 65, is among them. Her job is to make beer. And she's really good at it.
From an early age, Sister Doris wanted to become a nun. She needed a trade to offer the community, so she apprenticed with another nun who was a brewer and took a course on the subject. Once she had become a master brewer, she took her vows and went to work. Tracy Brown Hamilton of The Atlantic describes her work:
The abbey makes a different beer for each season, including maibock, a doppelbock, a dark zoigl, and a copper-hued lager. But given that the beer is made with natural ingredients and is not treated with preservatives, it doesn’t travel well—you can only find it in the vicinity of the abbey. “It’s a fresh product,” Sister Doris says. “Beer is not supposed to be left sitting. It changes the taste. It should be enjoyed as soon as possible.”
Sister Doris says she never expected that her call to serve God would lead her to brewing beer, but she loves her work and will do it until her health prevents her from doing so. “You can serve God everywhere, no matter what profession or job you have,” she says. “As Saint Benedict wrote, ‘in all things God may be glorified,’ and that is also true of beer.”
-via First We Feast