Papal Ale

These reports of the papal conclave being provided with an official beer by Benedictine monastery in San Benedetto, Italy... Is this for real? I'm not sure where this story first appeared - but its quoted on a BeerAdvocate thread see here.

Are those guys really Benedictine monks? Three observations: 1. The beards look just a little bit like they were stuck on. 2. They look like they're sharing some kind of in-joke (at our expense?) 3. The little guy looks like Will-i-am. Might be real of course - if it is, I'd love to try that Italian-Benedictine-monastery ale. I almost hope it is, as the idea of a load of Cardinals having a boys night in with several cases of beer is somehow really cheering.