Westvleteren 12

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

Bottle thanks to belguimbeergirl and daknole for telling her to send me a bottle rating # 400 and a very happy birthday to me pours brown and hazy with meduim body,aromas are of licorice,figs.cherries and other dark friuts taste is tangy and smooth, with dark fruits a very hearty beer, is it #1 in the world only god knows

Amazing off-white fluffy head and light brown colour.Smell is mostly toffee and the taste is coffee, alcohol and hundreds of other dark and fantastic flavours. This is the second time I’ve had this famous beer, once In de Vrede and this time from the bottle, incredible both times. In my opinion the only beer that comes close is Rocehfort 8.

Yes it’s a great beer. The best in the world? Debateable. It serves as the holy grail and does its job well. Poured a magnificent auburn unfiltered ruby red. A sight to behold. Nose of raisins, alcohol, toffee etc. Taste was expressive. Lots of alcohol, port, sweet dark fruit and a little coffee. Mouthfeel was medium to full. Left a lasting impression of alcohol and cinammon in the mouth. Lots of yeasty sediment to this one. Glad to try it, now I can move on try a few more on my wishlist!

Line up the top 50 beers in the world and give me my choice and this is the one I would pick 99 times out of 100 (Rochefort 10 being the 1/100). It just doesn’t get any better. Too damn hard to find here at home but I spend a lot of time in the Netherlands and Belgium thankfully. If you can find it buy it and enjoy one of the truly great luxuries of the world.

Thank you God for this most amazing beer. Smelled the alcohol first. A rush of memory. Grape? Caramel. Raisin. Sufficient tingle on the tongue. I did not drink a drop of alcohol for one year ane one day. This wonderful beer, this gift, the Westvleteren Abt 12, was my re-entry into the world of beer. My life, at twenty-six, is grand. Grand!

2008 Bottle at a tasting- Thanks Sam! - Pours a hazy dk brown with a tiny off white head...aroma is absurd, honey, dk fruit, malt, some cocoa spice...flavour is terrific as well, dense dough, spice, a nice burn...almost impossible to live up to that hype, but it was terrific!

After a year in my fridge, after a few near misses with this rolling out of my fridge, after staring at it for hours on end it is time to crack the westy 12 that I picked up from e-bay for a ungodly price ( cue dramatic music ). Me and beercronic finally decided it was time to drink the westies, but first we put it up against the St. Bernardus Abt 12, Rochefort 10, and Chimay blue, in a blind tasting battle royal. But doing it blind made for some interesting results ( cue suspenseful music ). It turns out for me anyway that the westy came in daed last in this blind tasting, not to say it was a bad beer but compared to the rest especially the Rochefort 10 it fell short. But enough of this on the review. Beer poured a dark, dark brown and had a minimal head just a skiff floated on top, and when I got close to the bottom of the bottle feta cheese looking chunks where plopping down in to the lake of beer. Aroma was very tasty, earth, floral notes, toffee and some very noticeable alcohol, the alcohol fit in very nicely into the aroma giving it a pleasant warming quality. Taste was yummy warm and cozy, lots of dark toffee malts, nice floral notes, warm alcohol and a nice spicy presence. Banana became more aggressive in the taste the longer I drank what made the beer smoother and took some of the edge off the alc. This beer tasted way more simple then I ever imagined it would, not nearly as complex as the Rochefort 10 but still very interesting to drink. I don’t think this beer lived up to its legend that it has, don’t get me wrong this is still one of the best beers in the world but I do not believe it is the best. I’ll give that honor to Rochefort 10. On a side note to this story as me and beercronic where attempting to do this review I was cooking supper and forced into my bed room due to the insane Caribbean jerk chicken smell coming from the bbq, and then chased out of there into the hallway of my condo building when the three heads of garlic I was using to make homemade garlic bread started to melt are faces off. Aw good times had by all.

As all Abt/Quadrupels, it should be served on cellar temperature (8-12°C / 46-54°F) to get the full taste of these beers. Normally I only have the chance to drink this beer when I visit my homeland. In Budapest I got the chance to drink one in the bar/ restaurant called "Mosselen" However the bottle came from the fridge and I asked to keep it for about 1/2 out of the fridge before serving. For me, this beer is my all time favourite since more than 25 years.