It seems that every town in the southern German state of Bavaria has a brewery, and beer is brewed by all sorts of people, including a nun. Sister Doris Engelhard, a 72-year-old Franciscan nun, is said to the be world’s last nun brewmeister. Sister Doris has strong opinions about her beer and when people should drink it……always. She especially recommends it during Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. “Eating one meal a day is tough, but beer is liquid and it doesn’t count as food when you fast,” said Sister Doris. For 50 years, Sister Doris has been master brewer at the Mallersdorf Abbey brewery. The cloisters were founded in the 12th century and are home to 400 nuns. In 1881, when the nuns were caring for hundreds of poor children, they decided to open the brewery to raise money to help fund their mission. Sister Doris' typical day begins at 5:30 a.m., when she attends morning prayers. She then attends Mass before she begins work at the brewery at 7 o’clock. She brews two types of beer: bock, a stronger kind of lager, and a lighter lager known as helles. Sister Doris says she drinks, on average, half a liter of beer a day. Her beer, Klosterbräu Mallersdorf, is only available for purchase at the Mallersdorf Abbey brewery. Sister Doris says she's going to retire soon and she's looking for a successor. Even so, the beer's label will remain the same: a picture of the world's last nun brewmeister, wearing her habit and a broad smile, about to drink her best version of Bavarian bread.
