Bringing the First Trappist Brewery to the US Marketplace

In need of additional revenue to support their monastery and community work in the Town of Spencer, MA, the Trappist monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey decided to start a brewery. While Trappist monks have been brewing beer for centuries, Spencer Brewery opened its doors in 2013 as the first Trappist brewery outside Europe.

One of only nine such breweries globally, the 36,000-square-foot, sleek, stainless steel brewhouse sits behind the stone abbey on monastery grounds. The facility houses state-of-the-art mechanical systems and equipment that produce the first and only certified Trappist beer made in the United States.

Our team performed mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design for this unique facility, which required careful coordination with the German-engineered brewing and bottling equipment. We designed the systems to accommodate the brewery’s precise functional requirements while providing a sustainable strategy for the long-term operations of the facility.