Westvleteren 12 (XII)

Brewed by Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Westvleteren, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

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UPDATED: SEP 2, 2009 I guess everything has already been said about this one. My humble opinion?The 12 is the best of the Westvleterens, in line with the 8 by flavour, but far more complex and substantially sweeter. A nice brew, but nevertheless imho not worthy of the title ’best beer in the world’, but i guess scarcity has a lot to do with that title. However, i’ve never had a fairly aged sample yet, which might considerably enhance the flavour.

Definitely a beer for the nose. Out of the bottle, I’m hit with the same cereal grainy, sweet corn aroma of the Westy 8. As the nice, sudsy head diminishes (remaining significant), the aroma opens up quite a bit, becoming perfumy, with a grape juice/young wine/ fruit punch/sangria -like quality. Not as cheap as it sounds, this is the fruitiest smelling, non-fruit beer I’ve ever smelled, but it is robust and woody, rather than cloying and sweet. The taste of the beer is very sweet and smooth, with serious, but gentle carbonation. Sediment is very present and the beer is a cloudy brown color with a reddish cast. Mouthfeel is extremely rich and luscious, with faint licorice note and some nuttiness. The finish is gently bitter, like bittersweet chocolate.

UPDATED: AUG 25, 2007 Brilliant. What more can I say. :)
Rerate. This beer has a lot,. is very tasty but is certainly highly overrated. For the same money I can buy 3-4 Rocheforts 10, who are much better I think.

Pours out to a dark, almost purple color in the glass with minimal head. Taste is that of a spiced fruit. Very wine-like in character and finish. Reminiscent of brandy as well. Enjoyable, but my palate didn’t find it to be the best beer in the world. Thanks to VA Homebrewer for sending this my way.

Warming toffeish glow. Little head retention. Plumish and one of the finest pallates of any of the trappists. The best beer in the world? Nah, I like Rochefort better, but this is damn good. Not something I’d purchase regularly.

So much has been said of this beer that when I finally found it, at the Ginger Man in NYC ($15 a bottle) I was sure I was going to be disappointed. How could a single beer live to such reputation? My doubts were erased as i took the first brandyish whiff.. It poured with a reasonably creamy head that left perfect lace. Color is dark ruby/brown. The taste is out of this world.. complex yet unified.. tastes like brandy, plummish and rummy, sort of like raisins, with an acidic, dryish finish. As it warms, chocolate and caramel become evident. AVB is barely noticeable, I couldn’t believe it was 10.2%. This is my first straight 5 across the board, and well deserved. I have never tasted anything like this.

Re-Rate 08/30/02: I’ve had this bottle for about 18 months, and decided, I could not wait to re-rate it. The pour is a cloudy cherry like color, minial head, minimal lace. Nose is ’plummish’, sweet, malts, earthy, ’Heavenly’, is a term that comes to mind. Start sweet, the top light, the finish is ’wineish, lightly acidic, dry, abv warms the tummy, nice light hop bite. Ranks #1 on my current 1000 beer master list.

Along with the Rochefort 10, my other favorite. A different taste, but in the same class. These will age very well... I have a ’87 wating for the right time. Not easy to find, but worth the effort.

An excellent beer.... I still have trouble saying "this is the best beer in the world", but damn good beer....

As I am rating this beer, sitting in front of my computer I have a bottle of it that I am drinking, obtained online from belgianshop. The use-by date on the cap is 23.04.05 and I’m thinking I’ll age my other bottles to see how they develop over time. Fantastic, perfect, sweet malty aroma. Color is a nice medium amber and the head has a nice nutty color to it as well. Flavor has a nice malt-hops balance with a little more to the hops side, and yet it seems as though the monks used almost mathematical precision to obtain this balance. Hidden within the balance one could imagine almost an infinite variety of flavor undertones, and this is a very neat effect. For this reason, I imagine that after aging, it will be quite incredible. Fine carbonation adds a nice tickle to the tongue, but slightly less than in the 8 (which I preferred a bit over the 12). At room temperature the flavor of alcohol is more present. This is an incredibly great ale, however, I do think that it is developing a somewhat legendary status due to the fact that it is made by trappist monks and it is pretty rare. It is really great stuff and I’m glad I bought it but I think I will still be satisfied drinking my favorite american microbrews most of the time instead, and for a lot less cash. If you’re really into belgian trappists though, this is definitely the one for you.