Westvleteren 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

4/27/09 - Updating due to a recent tasting. My gf got me a bottle for my bday (yes, I’m lucky I know) and we shared it last night. It was even better than I remembered it. --- Poured into a Rochefort Trappist chalice A: Initially this pours a murky, sediment filled brown color but after drinking 1/2 of it, you can see ruby highlights throughout. thick creamy off white almond colored head. Unfortunately this didn’t leave very much lacing at all. UPDATE: There was barely any sediment in this bottle. It poured a beautiful, clear (until the very last ounce) brown/ruby color. The last little bit was a bit muddy but to be expected, I think. Head formation was decent and lacing was pretty much non-existent. Rating bumped to 4.5. S: soon as the cap was popped off the scent of strong sweet fruit filled the air. There’s a medium heavy malting, brown sugar, deep dark fruits, cherries mostly and it’s slightly alcoholic. Smells like a combo of berry pie and caramel. UPDATE: This smelled amazing and as described above. I bumped my rating to 5.0. T&M: very smooth taste, medium bodied beer which is perfect for the style. sweet and malted, lots of fruits on the palate but so much complexity that it’s hard to pinpoint what flavors I’m experiencing. Non noticeable bitterness or hop flavor. Needless to say this feels and tastes great! The only thing I’m not too keen on is the "bits" of sediment that get stuck between your teeth as you’re nearing the end of the bottle. I could do without that. UPDATE: Similar to above minus the "bits" of sediment. This was clearly a higher quality beer, one that was most likely not aged for as long or aged under better environmental conditions. Taste rating bumped to a solid 5.0! Def worth it! Can’t really find a flaw in the mouthfeel either - 5.0 too. D: Pretty high ABV that’s masked almost completely. Great sweet, fruity taste, if it weren’t for the carbonation I’d think I was drinking some kind of concentrated berry juice. Overall impressions: This is one of the most sought after, legendary beers. Given it’s availability, it makes it that much more precious and highly coveted. While it is a great beer, and a fine example of the style, dare I say that I think it’s slightly overrated and that there are better examples of the style available closer to home, namely Rochefort 10 and St Bernadus Abt 12. Big thanks to zaf88 for this trade. I feel blessed to have tried this truly unique brew.

Bottle kindly shared by gunnar. Murky, deep amber body with a creamy, tan colored head leaving a good lacing. Booze, prunes, raisins and band aid on the nose. Inviting. Sweet, alco warmth, roasted candy, bitter. Medium to full body syrupy texture. Medium carbonation. Really nice, but hyped beyond what it deserves. Limited availability has it’s effect.

The nose is Mahogany Wood when it first is opened. The it opens to honey, and raisin. The color is Cloudy rusty brown. Creamy head with Medium body. The palette has Raisin, red fruit, chocolate cake and butter scotch/dark carmel. Very complex delicious beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Yay, finally got to taste the infamous W12! Bottled at Amndsen. Dark brown body, nice texture, small lacy caramel head as expected from a beer this strength. Sweet aroma, complex as they come, roasty, spicy, caramel. Malty taste, good balanced, the high alc% is really blending in, dark fruits, more spices, roasty, vanilla? leaves a warm feeling. Good bitterness, and a fruity finish. So happy to have finally tried this one. A good beer? Oh absolutely! The worlds best? IMO there are a hadful better out there. Will happily drink it again though!

At the start - smells bready/yeasty, with fruit and alcohol -- very good. As the extreme head diminishes, the smell improves as the aforementioned bread smell vanishes completely -- 9/10 on smell. Unprecedented head and great color. Ultra smooth for 10.2%. The taste.. It is THAT good - nearly perfection. The hype is real. If I have any knock against it, it’s that it is a slight touch on the sweet side... but it’s taste is so complex, that characteristic is forgivable. Truly outstanding - I leave it at a 19/20 overall, only in the hopes that I ever consume something from another planet that completely blows my mind and transfers me onto an alternate plane of existence where I yield omnipotent, omnipresent abilities.

Dark dark brown body, almost black with a garnet hue, aroma is of caramel and grapes. Beautiful bright white almost crystal looking head. Taste is long and rich, toasted caramel and dark roasted malt, wonderfully balanced and complex. Not as smooth as the Westvleteren 8 but only due to the darker roast taste, which it coupled with the deeper caramel sweetness gives the 12 more complexity. The sweet, roasty caramel taste lingers long after the sip. A truly excellent beer, worthy of being considered the best in the world.

To celebrate my #100 rating, i cracked open this bottle at home, in my new apartment. Pour opaque deep and dark, with a very nice big, foamy off-white head. Aroma is very complex of dark fruits, molasses, toffee, and ofc some belgian yeast. Some vanilla is comming through at the end. Very nice. The taste is quite sweet, but still well balanced. This hides the alcohol very well, with only a slight warming feeling in the mouth. Medium oily bodied, with a weird kinda flat and fizzy carb.

[Rated 06/01/2010. Comments are almost unchanged from the night I tried it.] Westvleteren 3/3: FInally, the pinacle of my Belgian beer trip (officially disguised as a vacation). The guy in the store had it hidden in an inconspicuous location, but if you know what to look for, it’s there. I noticed that, as I was leaving, he immediarely replaced the single bottle that was "on display," and that I took, with another. Pours purple-caramel with a whitish coarse head. Aroma is very sweet of raising, caramel and nuts -- quite amazing. Flavor is deep with hints of alcohol, raisins, and distinct hoppiness. Leaves a very lasting, warm, and hoppy finish. It’s very pleasent to drink. Definitely deserves the fame, but I would say I might have had better.