Westvleteren 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

The beer poured brown with a nice foamy head that dissipated pretty quickly. The aroma was sweet and malty with caramel notes and little to no hoppiness. The flavor was fruity, vinous at first then changed to sweetness as the beer warmed and there was a substantial caramel as well. The beer started out dry and ended up sweet, there was a good carbonation but not overwhelming. Overall an excellent beer! Where can I get a case of this?

33 cl bottle, Brussels, Belgium. Deep tawny port colour, a balanced freshness mingled with raisins, clove and a certain amount of dirt. Sweet with celery in the background, builds to a mellow alcohol infused finish.

Bottle from 2009. Pours deep brown with a lot of sediment and a thin frothy white head. The brew has a slight amount of carbonation and leaves very good lacing when the head disappears. The aroma is extremely complex and quite sweet. Included in it is notes of plums, raisins, white wine, and a little bit of hops/spice. The taste is magical - dark fruits, light fruits, sweet malts, and a slight hoppy backbone. No trace of alcohol at all. It may be part hype, it may be part mystery, but there’s no escaping the fact that this is by far the best Belgian Quadruple I’ve ever had... and that is saying a LOT.

2004 bottle at Kulminator. Dark brown with almost no head. There is a saffron like spiciness that reminds me of Swedish christmas saffron buns. Interesting! It has a smooth, mellow fruitiness in it’s rather complex aroma. but there is also a hint of cough medicine (that I also found in an aged Rochefort 10, though much stronger in that one) that I find a little bit disturbing. Very smooth, silky mouthfeel. A very good beer for sure, but I don’t think it lives up to the hype, at least this aged bottle didn’t.

UPDATED: SEP 18, 2010 Finally. Got it for Leafs93’s graduation from law school. Pours a deep amber brown with a generous caramel colored head. Has an aroma of dark fruit, caramel and malts. Some breadiness. The taste was worth the wait. This beer is not overrated. Sweet up front, then dark fruit taste. Chocolate notes show up. The carbonation hits at the perfect spot. Nice dry clean bitter finish with a subtle tart aftertaste.

Pours a deep amber with sediment clouding the glass. Aroma is dark fruits and breadyness. Taste is sweet with a tart like aftertaste. Mouthfeel is exceptionally smooth with a creaminess that lingers. This beer lives up to the hype big time! Thanks to Chalsk for the fantastic graduation present.

Bottle at Peter’s 2nd annual spring gathering. No idea why it’s taken me so long to actually rate this, since I’ve had it a couple times previous, just never felt like taking proper notes. Pours a hazy murky brown with a medium sized beige head. Plums and caramel, smooth chocolate and toffee. Very rich aromas. Thick and malty, sort of like a chocolate malted. Smooth and sweet, very subtle dark fruits throughout. Caramel and lingering dark fruit and plums. Lovely stuff.

Finally! 2007 bottle. Pours a ruddy, chesnut color with small beige head. Aroma is full of raison, banana, nutmeg, maple syrup and alcohol. I love the subtle rotting plum element to the nose as well. Maybe a touch prunish due to this. Huge flavor to accompany the beautiful nose. Surprised by the slight booze off the get-go. Black cherry drenched in an oaky, boozy bitter piece of dark chocolate. Finishes of pure raison and burnt toast. Soapy, coating mouthfeel that almost seems spongy. This is great stuff.