Westvleteren 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

Bottle. Date on the cap of 08.01.11, so bottled in 2008 I believe. Pours a hazed deep mahagony reddish brown color with a slighlty off white head. Some sediment evident in the glass. A solid mix of aromas in the nose including fruit like raisins, spice, and alcohol. Also get plums in the nose. Medium mouthfeel with some carbonation that dances across the tongue. Dark fruits and subtle sweetness dominate the flavor. Some evidence of the alcohol in the taste. Pretty smooth and exceptional tasting. Other flavors that I can pick out include molasses and caramel. Nice sweetness left in the mouth after your drink. So, how does the "#1" beer in the world rate? It’s hard to imagine how any such beer can be #1 for me. This is a great, very smooth drinking, well made beer for sure. The fact that you can only get it from the monastery has to come into effect in where it is on the list. Overall, I really like this beer. Its really tasty but I couldn’t drink it all the time. Give it up to the monks for making this one.

Finally, Westy 12. Poured from a bottle into a Chimay glass (its the only Trappist glass that I own). Beer was brown, mostly clear until the mud at the bottom of the glass came out, this was avoidable, i know how to pour. The head was diffuse but present and the carbonation was slow but steady, continuously replenishing the thin head. The smell was amazing. Beautiful yeasty and sweet smell. The taste and mouthfeel were out of this world. It was smooth, I could have drank the whole thing in a few minutes but I savored it for as long as possible. Taste was sweet and pleasant. More yeast, no aftertaste. A perfect beer. I wish I could have ti year round.

Bottle. Large thick foamy offwhite head over a red-brown body. Excellent lacing on the glass. Aroma-taste of spices (cinammon, coriander etc), milk chocolate, slightly swet, with a lasting milk chocolate type finish. Medium bodied, with some carbonic acidity/biteon the tongue. Delicious, very drinkable.

Bottle pours deep brown with a nice khaki head. Where do you even begin to describe a beer like this? Aroma is sweet and full of fruit, malt, and yeasty goodness. Notes of plum, cassis, cherry, caramel, chocolate, oak, vanilla, and the list continues. Flavor shows the same with marvelous integration. Overall body is moderate to full, with moderate to heavy sweetness, and a lightly bitter finish. Even though this is not MY perfect 5, I can definately see why it has gotten such high praise. Rightfully so.

A: The pour is a dark brown color with a sizable tan head and plenty of carbonation. S: An intense sweetness that comes in the forms of caramel, candi sugar, molasses, and a whole lot of dark fruits. I get some cherries, plums, figs, and dates. T: The flavor is pretty much more of the same, and that’s not a bad thing. A lot of sugary sweetness along with some caramel, molasses, and toffee. There is a strong flavor of dates and figs with some raisins and prunes, too. M: The body is quite full with that fine carbonation that it seems only the Belgians can pull off. D: A very, very good beer. Maybe a bit too sweet to drink a lot of at a time, but such a good flavor that you might make a bit of an exception.

There’s not much to say about this beer that hasn’t already been said. My personal experience is that this is the beer that opened my mind to abts, tripels, quads, imperial stouts and so on. I’d never been too fond of stronger beers or darker beers or stronger darker beers until I drank this. A special beer.

From the time I opened the bottle the aroma was of herbs and carmel. The appearance was dark brown and a little cloudy with a nice minimal head. The taste was full body and had hints of coffee...nuts and caramel and the overall raiting is very high.....one of the best beers I have had in a long time.

not a big fan of belgiums, i still needed to see what the hype was about with this beer. shared with my buddy dave at the am rep 25th anniversary show. pours dark brown with visible setiment and good carbonated head. nose is a little odd, definate sour and some sweet fruit and something else, perhaps a little soy sauce (?). taste is heavy and not that boozy considering it’s 10%. Definate fruit up front with sweet molasses with a little sour on the finish. i must say, this is an excellent beer, but #1 in the world??? if readily available here, i would buy it quite often.