Westvleteren 12

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

Bottle, 6-7 months after being picked up from the abbey, courtesy of Filip!
Pours a deep brown with a big tan tightly bubbled head, fades to the edges and leaves a nice lacing. Huge fruity nose, figs, dates, candi sugar, some spicy hops are evident in the nose too. The aroma is rounded out with some big, bready yeasty aromas atop a fine malty base. Truly a magnificent aroma. In flavor, sweet dates, bready yeasts, spicy hops and surprisingly had a bitter finish. Hardly any alcohol shows through. Very balanced and delicious, just lush and smooth in the mouth. This was light and drinkable. Cheers again to Filip for sharing this!

A rich earthy brown, she pours delectably into my glass, a goblet of course. A generous body, she is a deep earthy brown leaving no room for light to peek through. Thick and luscious in my glass with a nice tight, tan head which fades into a light ring around my glass. Much yeast in the nose with fruits such as prune, fig, and raisin. Westy is thick, heavy, and meaty in my mouth. A light touch of effervescent which I find is typical or bottle fermented Belgian Ales, and I love it. The palate is sweet and yeasty and a blend of darkish fruits like the prune, fig, and raisin I got in the nose. The whole flavor profile seems to settle right on the center of my tongue, lingering with a hint of dryness. Like a good Belgian, Westy warms beautifully, bringing out even more of the tangy yeasty sour goodness. Westy 12 finishes beautifully, much to my sadness, because I really didn’t want this wonderful Belgian beer to end. A true Trappist quadrupel, bless those monks.
For a high ABV, Westy 12 is very drinkable, and I could easily put a couple of these away, maybe with some yummy gourmet cheeses n smoked salmon. I have had a few "religious experiences" over the last few years of my beer geekdom, and Trappist Westvleteren 12 is definitely one of those.

For my 700th rating, I decided to crack this one open on my 40th birthday. Two good numbers coming together, I guess. Pours a deep brownish red with a thick off white head. Nicely packed carbonation bubbles stream up the side of the glass. Aroma has a strong caramel malt sweetness, candy sugar, raisin, plums, and cherries all combined together, yet no one overpowering. Reminds me of a nice cognac where you just sit and savor the complexity of the aroma. Nice creamy body. Taste is thick and malty with lots of dark fruit notes, cherry, candy sugar. An amazing balance of so many flavors. With all of that going on, it finishes very clean with only a slight hint of sweetness. Yeah, it’s worth the hype.

Poured a dark amber/brown color with a slightly off white one-finger head. Aroma of belgian spices and malts. Dark fruits and spices in the taste along with malts noted. Worth the effort to obtain.

Well its time to crack this one open I won this particular bottle in a LIF hosted by Life is good major Karma goes her way. I figured this was the perfect time to celebrate this brew the last weekend of summer, the working mans weekend, and all truly life is good. Bottle served slightly chilled in my favorite chalice. The pour produced a good two fingers worth of Brown head that goes to a great lace. The body was brown to a dark red in color The nose has tons of Malts and dark fruits It is a little less Intense than expected But it may be just reality catching up to expectation. There was a hint of spice and alcohol as well as it warms. Flavors of sweet dark fruits filled my mouth raisins figs and such. As it warms more of the alcohol is present in its bite but so does the spiciness in the flavor as well .Great mouthfeel and perfect carbonation for its style For this holy grail of all brews this was a pleasure to drink, highly drinkable. The rarity of this brew aside. I do think it is close to a few of the other Belgian Quads I have tried St. Bernardus comes to mind. Don’t get me wrong this brew was better balanced in the flavor department but I think if it comes down to it St. Bernardus is a close second. Thanks again Life is good for sharing such a rare brew as well as another buddy who will remain nameless for trading me one to put away for my son when he is legal age. Who knows I may even split it 60 /40 LOL

Thanks mcbackus such a pleasure to enjoy this with you As far as being the best beer in the world I am not completely convinced but as far as being the best belgian to ever pass my lips that it is a fact. Does live up to the hype. rate 180

Finaly got my hands on 2 bottles :) bought them in bruges from another zythos member(belgian beer consuming delegation) i took my own westvleteren chalise and watchet it how it behaves when pooring, when there is a little bit in the glass it has a red-ish colour but as u fill youre glass even more it becomes more darker. The glass is now full and i hold it into the light to look at the colour, dark brown/red-ish with a little bit off foam, looks kinda pretty and smells kinda sweet with a little bit off bitter, after a small sip fruit is the first thing to pass my mind. FAB taste and the palate is very refreshing and last long. this convinced me to drive up to st sixtus and buy a whole crate :)

bottle from belginbeergirl, and mcbackus shared. poured into a wide mouthed duvel glass. nose is full of candi sugar and fresh fruit, like a young old ale. alcohol is also present and increases as it warms. slight molasses feel. Much thicker mouthfeel than most belgians. seems to lack complexity. spicy notes are evident as it warms. mouthfeel is velvet-like with not carbonation bite. very little carbonation overall leads to a slightly chewy factor. nice lacing for so much alcohol.