forestbathing

near the monastery

smell of chrysanthemum tea

wafts through the trees

I hope I am mistaken

and beer is brewing

In Belgium, particularly, monasteries have become famous for brewing and selling beer. The flavour of beers is directly connected to monks and religion in Europe, as for years beers were brewed without hops, causing too much festivity and a lack of interest in productivity. The church introduced hops into beer, which renders a drinker sleepy, in an effort to get all and sundry to bed, and away from the kind of bed that the nascent pagans had in mind after some of their drinking sessions. Hops remains an ingredient of many good beers, especially IPA beers, with their highly-drinkable bitter taste, notably among the new Craft Beers.