Westvleteren 12

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

Glad I poured this one slow, as in the middle of a slow pour I got a GIANT plop as a big plug of sediment fell in the beer, even though I was careful. I was very concerned I had ruined it as it looked ghastly with floaties everywhere, but when they setlled.....wow. Just beautiful. Aroma of overripe fruits, english toffee, and yeast. Flavor is sweet, with a nice bitter hop profile, and one of the best finishes I’ve ever had. After the horrible pour, I was over the hype and expected disappointment, but this delivered and then some.

14 months old bottle, balancing my rating #666 with her holiness. Almost opaque dark ruby, lasting creamy beige head. A bit restrained, sweet roasty nose with dark candi sugar, herbs, clove, little milk chocolate and earth. Superbly balanced flavor, roasted maltiness, strong sweet liquorice, cocoa, pretty intensive herbs. Sweet lingering sugary finish with some earth, more sweet chocolate, moderate balancing hops and faint alcoho. Full bodied, lush and extremely smooth palate. Amazing sweet nightcap, probably gaining loads of complexity with age, as there’s still so much sugar to burn.

One of the best trappists around, I have a hidden stash of Westvleteren dating back from the mid seventies. I just drank a 1999 bottle and thought I died and went to heaven. This beer makes you consider celibacy.

Best of the Trappists. World of wonder in your mouth. Requires multiple tastings to discover all that’s inside. Best beer in the world? Probably not, but very close. Picked up a batch at the brewery, looking forward to how this beer will evolve in my cellar.

This 22-1-2008 brewn batch beer, personally retrieved from brewery, was a feast to get, to keep in stock for one year and to drink eventually. It poored a fine head with a bit of brown yeasty slur. That slur ruined my drink. It gave the head and a awful taste. I have to rely on my impressions of earlier consumed examples of this outstanding beer. It is less pronounced and sweet as the Rochefort 10. Has more bitters. Its no showof but more contemplative of nature. Tip for pouring, keep sludge absolutely out of the poured drink. Two more years of evolution are awaited with joy.

Trappist beers are always a treat, and this is no exception. Pours dark brown with frothy beige head. Nose is citrus, vanilla, coffee, very complex. Flavor is just as complex, exquisitely balanced fruits, hops, nuts, a bit of spice. Perfection in a bottle.

Many Thanks to HopTilUDrop for this rare treat! Deep brown and cloudy with a beige head. Aroma of pepper and pine and maybe of fresh aromatic bread with vanilla notes. Wonderful creamy/buttery mouth, very soft on the tongue while unleashing a bitter as well. Really well balanced and complex More pine and air of a mountain stream. Later slight orange with a strong element fo tea of all things. This beer never displayed ony cloying soapiness and kept my interest throughout. Well worth any effort.

After the primarily overripe banana flavor of Rochefort, and the many comparisons I’ve heard between it and Westvleteren 12, I wasn’t sure what to expect--a distant relative, a first cousin, or a twin. After my tasting, I think only a fairly young and unrefined beer-tasting palate would judge RF10 and WV12 identical--each hit my mouth with very different flavors. Met some nice fellow Americans in Belgium at the abbey today picking up their orders around 3PM; wish we could’ve hung out. Exclusive rep of the beer didn’t mean much to me compared to the simple friendliness of the seller and overall good spirit around the Vleteren area, but I think the rep is absolutely deserved. Nose is similar to Kasteel bruin, and both beers are sweet, but the flavor of Westvleteren is oh so much riper and deeper than nearly any beer I’ve had... leather, vanilla, burnt caramel, licorice, slight butter, faint coffee, soft cinnamon spice and figs and apricot, with some smoky oak. I could swear I even taste a hint of caramelized witloof, that bizarre and wild acquired-taste vegetable which is the signature of Belgium. (Discounting brussel sprouts, which I really can’t stand.) Mouthfeel is marvelous; so velvety and rich that it’s like butterscotchy liquid angora. The dark anise aftertaste is almost not bitter at all, yet it dances a waltz with your tongue long after you’re finished. The moment my glass was empty I was dying for another. The only other beer I can think of that’s as complex as this is the far more bitter Storm King Stout, from Victory. So what is the best beer in the world? You’ll really have to try all the best-rated ones to answer the question of what suits your personal preferences the best, but Westvleteren 12 is truly marvelous, and definitely worth the test if you can get your hands on it. On further testing, I found this beer appeals even more. I can’t think of how to improve on it--I don’t know if it’s possible to ask more of a beverage.