Westvleteren 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

UPDATED: SEP 19, 2011 THE beer. Finally got another one in a recent trade. I decided to open it with a friend of mine and tonight just happened to be that night. Bottle poured into a chalice. A - Pours murky brown with a start white one and a half finger head leaving small wisps of lacing down the glass. S - Smells of dark fruits; like figs, prunes, and raisins; mixes with the sweet malt, chewy belgian yeast, and some damp earth. The alcohol creeps in as it comes to room temperature. T - Starts off with a sweet mix of dark fruits and candied sugar slowly giving way a mix of bready malts, spicy belgian yeast, caramel, toffee, molasses, and some chocolatey sweetness. The alcohol begins to rear its head as the ale comes to room temperature, drying the pallet. The finish is a mix of sugary sweetness and light heat from the alcohol. Amazingly balanced overall. M - Medium-Heavy body and flavor with moderate carbonation. So damn smooth with a little bit of chewiness. The alcohol does become a bit tiresome over the course of the glass. O - This is still one of my favorite beers of all time. From the dark, complex, flavors to the soft, velvety, feel you would be hard pressed to find a better quad. I can’t wait for my next encounter with this amazing beer.

Bottle pours a nice dark amber. Up front it has aroma of dark friuts like dates. It just tastes like a normal quad at that the front. For me the big thing about this beer is that in the finish it just keeps going with lots of flavours. Nice beer

2005 vintage; it is my 30th birthday today (2011), in a westvleteren glass; pour is murky golden brown with a modest off white head that diminishes to a light haze; the nose is sweet breads, toffee, caramel, Belgian sugars, and berries. Its slightly prickly on the tongue, on the sweeter side; honestly ... wow. This brew was sublime out of the gate, and gave me chills. The flavor profile matches the fantastic notes of the aromas. I love. Westvleteren.

Bottle split with mcberko. Pours thick cloudy brown with a lasting, creamy white head. Aroma of tropical fruits, peaches, banana, some molasses or caramel in there too, yeast. Flavour is light molasses, sweetened dark fruits, plums, raisins, yeast, honey. Smooth texture, but also highly carbonated. Full bodied and complex - a little too sweet for my taste, but I appreciate the quality.

33 cl bottle. Hazy deep brown body with small off-white head. Aroma is quite belgo with note sof banana, cloves, dark candi sugar, dark fruits, roasted malt and maybe some chocolate. Tasteis quite sweet with lots of sugary notes and light to medium bitterness. A bit boozy. Medium bodied with ok carbonation and sticky mouthfeel. Some warming alcohol. Quite drinkable for the style. Really good abt/quadrupel but not the best beer in the world. I’ve had better. Though, this bottle was not that old but not super fresh either.

So much going on in this one it’s difficult to enumerate it all. Plummy aroma of fruit and roasty malt. Hops to the rear but balanced, smooth complex flavours, sweet starting with candi sugar and dark fruits but a lingering dry finish. Beautiful. Best ten euros I’ve spent, worth every last cent. Not so easy to get, I’d do so again in a heartbeat. This is seriously lovely.

Bottle at "in de Vrede, Westvleteren": Dark brown coloured brew with well balanced sweet spicy taste and got some hints of banana.

Glass at the St. Sixtus cafe: Appearance is nearly black with an cream color head slow fading head. Aroma is filled with spices, sweet malt and yeast. Flavor is unlike any other beer I’ve ever had. Most similar to Rochefort, but perfected. This beer has a slightly sweet taste at first, followed by some plumb, brown sugar, candi sugar, spices, caramel, roasted malt and some Belgian yeast. Absolutely the best Belgian beer I’ve had, if not the greatest beer I’ve had. The cafe was sold out of the 12 deg in bottles, but was able to pick up a 6 pack of the 8 deg to rate and enjoy later.