Westvleteren 12

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

Serve in Trappist glass

330ml bottle thanks to my wife.
Aroma: figs, prunes, chocolate, toffee, coffee, burnt sugars
Appearance: caramel/brown, constant off white head
Taste: chocolate, figs, prunes, toffee, burnt sugars
Palate: starts fairly sweet and finishes dry
Overall: This is an amazing beer. Very complex but without being overly complex. I understand why so many people rate this high, it is a beer experience. This bottle was bottled 3 years ago almost to the day 12/27/08.

Bottle from Tanakaya in Tokyo via Ezo Beer (Phred Kaufman) from who knows where. Tried it once before but that bottle was off, so this is my first proper tasting. Aroma is certainly nice, with some light/sour fruit on top of the usual quad aroma. Taste is solid, but turns to a unique bitter and long lasting aftertaste. This is certainly an outstanding beer. But in the long run, I prefer the Rochefort 10, regardless of rarity or ranking.

Pours a dark, muddy brown with about an inch of frothy white head. Aroma is pleasant - dark fruit, raisins, and molasses. Taste matches the smell and this is a very enjoyable brew. Is it the best in the world? I don’t think so, but it is darn good. Pretty comparable to Rochefort 10 in my opinion.

bb 2014 bottle served in leffe goblet . just arrived by shipper from belgium last week - couldn’t wait any longer for it to settle before trying the first one . didn’t pick up too much aroma to be honest . head is beige colour , dissipated quite soon . deep brown almost black in colour . no special promise so far but oh the taste ! Slightly sweet malty caramelly turning quickly to a slight bitterness with long lasting flavour , warming alcohol effect comes just at the end . Medium carbonation supports the flavours and controls the alcohol well . Ceratainly the best of its kind that I have tried so far

Subdued aromatic start which develops into honey and licorice. Modest, but intricate.

I have been humbled. Can it get better than Westy 12? I always believed perfection didn’t exist, this is damn close! ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Well, finally I tasted this world famous, legendary beer. And I have to admit it’s very good. It’s certainly worth the money (euro 7,50) I paid for it. But, there comes the but...it’s not THAT big a deal. From now on Westvleteren 12 is just a very good beer. One of the best, that’s for sure!

Best by 2013. Opening this alleged masterpiece while watching Die Hard. Good movie. As with a lot of other Belgian beers, this was a gusher. Luckily I was quick with the glass and only lost a bit of the beer. Because the yeast was unsettled with the gushing, the pour is murky and flakey, and the head was soapy and dissipating. The aroma is in yo face with yeast and esters. Notes of chocolate, tobacco, dark fruits, dark sugar, toasted nuts. As it is swirled notes of toffy and caramel occur. Also a rather strong oxidized impression which is off, and notes of alcohol. The aroma is actually very nice, is has some nice subtle elegances. The taste starts off with heavy yeasty and estery sweetness, figs, dates, port like in the sweetness, chocolate and cocoa. At first the carbonation was almost excessive, and that combined with the high esters made a very harsh mouthfeel. As it warms and the carbonation dissipates, it gets more pleasant - but nothing like what I expected from reading other reviews. I had high hopes for this one - that I would finally fall in love with a traditional Belgian quadruple. But no, this really isn’t my style of beer. Pannepot > Westvleteren 12