Westvleteren 12

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

A 12 oz. bottle split courtesy of a dude who doesn’t have a screen name or account on here. I was very thankful for getting to try this famous brew! Pours a dark brown nondescript looking fluid with great whitish tan head with adequate lacing. The aroma is of trappist yeast, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and slight alcohol. The mouthfeel is smooth but adequately carbonated. The flavor is classic trappist with spicy cinnamon and sugar with hints of dried fruits. All bow to the great Westy 12!

Lived up to the hype. Huge dark fruits and slight roastiness aroma. Figs, brown sugar, bread, plums, other dark fruits and cookie flavor. Finish is long and sweet. Syrupy mouth feel. Amazing beer. I bought 6 of them and I’m going to age 2 of them. Can’t wait to try them in a few years.

So this is THE big one... ahem. Pours dark ruby/brown with billowy off-white head. I don’t normally mention lacing, but this leaves loads of it all over the glass, kind of like abstract art that draws in yet another sense. I’m trying to find something consistent in the nose, but there isn’t one single element: loads of raisins and raspberries, then peaches, then smoky Rodenbach-esque fruit sour refreshment, then malts that remind of bread and brown sugar, then a warm alcohol that gives it an incredible depth and weight. Moving on before it evaporates... The flavor is very similar to the nose, a little more bread and dark fruit. The alcohol is really minor but begins to emerge with warmth, as do some sticky bitterness and salt. The beer is effortless in it’s glide and soooo smooth given the weight. The Rochefort 10 is a messy sledgehammer by comparison, but it seems unfair to place Rochefort up against this giant... are they really the same style? The outstanding complexity here is matched by an incredible delicacy, something I haven’t seen in any other Abt/Quad. Yeah, this one’s worth all the hype.

Candy brown sugar molasses candy nutmeg / wormwood spice ... A very over hyped beer IMHO .. St. Bernardus abt 12 is just as good and some people will say it’s better and less money too ...

Thanks to kiefdog for letting me experience this treasure of the beer world. Amazing Belgian Trappist Ale. Candy sugar, plum, and malt smell. Taste (besides phenomenal), Candy sugar, plum and other dark sweet fruit, a bit of oak towards the end, and a wonderful sweet creamy taste. It was a wonderful treat from the day to day.

Rating #100! The elusive, unicorn of a beer, got it in a trade from deepsouth. Pours a mahogany brown, with very small head, and a murky body. Aroma is of dark fruit, brown sugar, and alcohol. Taste not as great as the aroma would indicate. Taste is of dark fruit, strong alcohol, and a bit of acidic/medicinal bitterness. Unless I got a bum bottle, it’s good, but not the greatest by any means. I put St. Bernardus Abt 12 well above it. Update: I shared the 2nd bottle I acquired in this trade last night at Kuhnhenn Winter Solstice. It was much better than the first bottle. Incredible aroma, and richness of taste. So I am upping my scores to reflect this. Great stuff!

Not a fan of the style, but a very good beer top to bottom. Fits the style perfectly. Aroma is very pronounced and complex, just like the malty flavors. There is a LOT going on in this beer.Thanks for the bottle Aledude!

It doesn’t get any better than this. Like liquid candy. Everything about it is just spectacular. Mmm good.