Our Story
A thousand
years in
the making
Birra Montecassino boasts a rich history intertwined with the venerable Montecassino Abbey, established by Saint Benedict in 529 AD.
Perched atop a mountain overlooking Cassino, Italy, the abbey became a beacon of culture and spirituality. Historical accounts suggest that between the 5th and 6th centuries, the monks cultivated barley and brewed beer — potentially marking it as Europe's earliest known abbey beer.
A History of Brewing
- 529 AD Saint Benedict establishes Montecassino Abbey on the mountainside above Cassino, Lazio.
- 5th–6th Century Monks begin cultivating barley on the estate — some sources cite this as Europe's first recorded abbey beer.
- Today Birrificio Montecassino brews with the same rock-filtered mountain water, naturally carbonated, unchanged in method.
Brewed with rock-filtered spring water drawn from within the Montecassino hillside — the same source that sustained the monks for over a millennium.
The estate stretches over 700 acres of Italian mountainside, home to an authentic restaurant and a brewery whose soul remains rooted in the traditions of those who came before.
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