Westvleteren 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

(bottle - 330 ml) Dark brown pour with a creamy looking tan head. Very sweet and malty aroma. Lots of fruit notes including prunes and raisins mix with hints of caramel and toffee. No alcohol detectable. Flavor is fruity and sweet and malty all at the same time with tons of different malt notes. The caramel comes up near the finish and really mixes well with the plum and raisin notes. Alcohol shows up a little bit at the finish. Incredibly smooth and chewy body with a lingering fruit and malt aftertaste. I was wondering if this would live up to the hype and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Amazing. Rating #2400.

Bottle @ Gollem, Amsterdam. Pours a thick off white head which quickly thins. Dark brown body. Aromas of spice and rose wine, toffee and treacle. Long dry bittersweet finish. Warming. Bitter and sweet notes throughout. As the beer warms up, dark cherries start to come through strongly on the nose. Also coming from this mysterious and complex brew are notes of malt, alcohol, nuts, vanilla and finally milk chocolate. The beer has a bready backbone. Also notes of yeast and biscuit. Weak spruce hoppy undertone and finally blossom.

Bottle from my amazing wife. I had this as part of a Belgian quad taste-off with St. Bernardus 12, Rochefort 10, and even more. It’s hard to say I was blown away since my expectations were understandably excessively high. That said, I did love this beer and it stood up very well against tough competition, and it may have been the best smelling Belgian ale I’ve come across with tons of fruit and wine-like characteristics. Its delicious flavors were not as sweet as the aroma indicated and only improved as it warmed and flattened out. My only knock on this beer was how hot it finished. With all the hype, I was expecting it to be far smoother than it was as the alcohol was very evident, even prominent. My assumption is that this would be improved with age, but since this was likely the only bottle I’ll have and it was very fresh, I have to knock it down a bit on that note.

Perfection. Dark red-brown color with light brown, medium head. Aroma: sweet malty, flowers, spicy, red fruits (cherries, plums), light hoppy. Taste is sweet with nice bitter end. Light astringency, light carbonation. Long mouthfeel. Intense. Simply THE BEST.

Bottle. A - Dark chestnut with garnet red hues and an above average sized, creamy, smooth, tight foamy head. Good retention that finally rests into a nice, creamy, smooth layer of lace. S - Wonderful mix of dark fruit (raisin, date, a bit of cherry, and lots of other dark fruit). Strong amount of spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pepper, allspice, coriander, etc.) paired with some warming alcohol. Also a good amount of dark caramel malt. T - Similar to the nose. Well balanced and complex, and hard to fully describe so I’ll just say wow. Strong amount of spice (similar to the nose) along with a touch of warming alcohol that compliments the spice. Dark fruit mixes in well with raisin being the strongest, but others making a showing. Has a good amount of candi sugar, Belgian sweetness along with the dark fruit. Also has a good amount of dark, sweet, caramel, and slightly bready malt. Wonderful mix of sweet, spice, fruit, etc. M - Medium body with a perfect amount of carbonation. Wasn’t quite as thick as I was expecting, but it works well with the taste. Incredibly smooth and creamy. D - So easy to drink with the smooth and creaminess and the well balanced flavors. Would gladly drink another. Notes: Best before 24/03/13. Wonderful beer that lived up to the hype for me. Well balanced and complex. Really an enjoyable beer that I would gladly drink again. A touch lighter than what I was expecting, but it worked well. Very tasty beer, with all the hype I can see how it might fall short for a number of people, but all in all I think most people would gladly drink another.

Received this in a trade with TheBeerSommelier (thank you SO MUCH!) and decided to crack one open in honor of the US v England world cup match today (figured the good vibes this beer will generate in me will travel down to down South Africa to help out our boys in blue!) Pours an absolutely gorgeous hazy deep amber with beautiful thick foamy head that lingers... and lingers... and lingers leavinng sticky lacing on whatever bit of glass it comes in contact with. It seems to be PERFECTLY carbonated as the head just sticks around throughout the entire session, each time I take a sip the little finger of foam comes right back as bubbles continually flutter up from the bottom of the glass - truly a sight to behold. Aromas of dark fruit and malt with a flavor that is similar but with MORE of everything. Beautifully balanced - no one flavor taking precedence over another. This is a truly GREAT beer and one that I will drink again ANY chance I get. I could go on... and on... and on... but I’ve got to get back to drinking this!!! ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!

Bottle from a shady dealer in Belgium. Kept in storage for the past 2 years. Drank on my 40th birthday. Dark brown pour with a beige head. Aromas of chocolate, plum pudding, dried fruit, caramel, quite vinous. Very complex nose. Flavours of caramel, hops, dates, baked apple, toffee, chocolate. Complex fruit notes. Good alcohol burn. Has aged beautifully. A classic.

Notes from a tasting in 10/08 Bottle ordered and consumed at In De Vrede, the abbey cafe. Poured in to a Westvleteren goblet, opaque brown with a frothy tan head that left fine lace on the glass. Lots of dark fruit in the nose, ripe currant, dark cherries, run-soaked raisins...yes, it smells boozy. Some breadiness too. In the mouth, the first thing you notice is the alcohol. Having this beer fresh, at the source, has its advantages and its drawbacks and the heat of this beer when so young is one of the drawbacks. But once you get past the alcohol up front, there is a wonder of flavors. A rich maltiness, velvety smooth and all the dark fruit comes through. Raisin, currant, plum and dark cherry, underpinned with sweet spice, a breadiness and sweet finish that is promptly made clean by the strong alcohol. A velvety mouthfeel though. It’s pretty damn good. A beer that lives up to the hype. The only drwaback was drinking it so young; I would imagine that having this with 6-18 more months of age on it would make it heavenly. As it is, the heat of the alcohol is the only flaw.