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How did monastic orders preserve brewing during the Middle Ages?
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Beer
Glasses of beer in a bar in Brussels.
During the Middle Ages, monastic orders played a crucial role in preserving beer brewing as a craft. This preservation was largely facilitated by the structure of monastic life, which was governed by rules such as the Benedictine Rule.
These regulations, established by figures like St. Benedict, integrated manual labor into the daily routine of monks. By incorporating brewing into their communal duties, monasteries maintained the technical knowledge and production of ale throughout the medieval period.123