Westvleteren 12

[Rating 200] Bottle shared with 1 2many. Looks better than the 8, with a larger head and much more lacing. The aroma is also stronger, but with a similar smell of raisins, doughy bread, and yeast. Flavor is great...caramel, raisins, rich sweet malt and a little bit of alcohol. Not as extremely drinkable as the 8, but still very smooth. Excellent carbonation, very present but doesn’t choke you on the way down. I have to drink this beer again.

Bottle thanks to Belgianbeergal. The only thing I’ll complain about is that my glass is empty, and I want to become a monk so I can be around this beer all the time. Aroma is amazing. Raisins, rich caramel, figs, with a little yeast. Very sweet fruit, caramel, bread flavor. Alcohol is well hidden and the carbonation is very enjoyable. Great smooth feel. Not too heavy or light. If I make it into heaven this beer will be there.

This one is an absolute classic! The aroma is wonderful! sweet, caramel, toffee, raisin and fruits. The flavor rich and very complex again sweet yet some what bitter, alcohol, caramel, raisin, spicy. Overall this is one of the best beers in the world, perfect! YMMV

Bottled. Stunning one to have for #1000 - thanks to both ygtbsm94 and Ungstrup for providing me with a bottle of this. Pours a deep reddy-brown with a thin beige head. After a careful pour, I had a sniff. Nose is strong, wow, alcohol, dark fruit, malt, almost sour plum, toffee, very complex. Mouth is very very punch-in-the-face strong, malty, slightly bitter, alcohol, spirit, grassy, almost a gin floralness, then becoming sweeter and more rounded, with some spiciness. Lots of complex dark fruit, even some espresso and chocolate in tiny quantities. Finishes quite malty and some biscuit, with some warming fruit. Saved this for my 1000th, sat at the window, looking out across a rainy Luxembourg, in perfect silence. Then a Boeing 747 soared overhead at about 700ft, and I realised why I was here, why I was drinking this beer, and why I love the Benelux. Setting: Perfect. Beer: Pretty good, too!

Tasted 26/07/2008. 330ml bottle carried all the way from the UK by hand, through the Green-Watt connections, to Wellington. Then on to Invercargill, via Queenstown on the most amazing flight I’ve ever experienced, to finally share with Sam and Steve the night before we kicked off Yeastie Boys. Thank you Richard - you’re a legend. Firstly: has anyone else had bottles with sediment that is almost 1/3 of the bottle? The beer: Ho hum, to be perfectly frank. Pleasant. There’s another bottle in the cellar, so it’ll be interesting to see if another look is any more impressive.

Bottle, 33cl. Pours a reddish-brown beer with an off-white head. The aroma is sweet with caramel, raisin and fruits. The flavor follows the nose and leaves a rich and complex mouthfeel. Overall this is one of the best beers to style.

Poured a hazy brown color with a tiny off white head. Aroma was of a lot of dark fruits, caramel, nuts and some alcohol. Flavor was lots of caramel, and some fig and dates, and some grass with a nice alcohol warmth and thickness in the swallow. Pretty good, but I would prefer a Rochefort 10

The beer is dark brown with a tone of red, and a huge head. Aroma of caramel, alcohol, prunes and cherries perhaps - sweet. The flavor is of dark fruit, cherries, caramel and a bit of burn from the alcohol to balance the sweetness.