Westvleteren 12

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

Pours a very dark brown with a light tan head. Nose is sweet with lots of malt, fruit and, spice. Has some fruity chocolate, malt and a little bitterness in the flavor with some alcohol that lingers in the finish. It’s a very nice beer but I wasn’t overwhelmed with it.

Pours a very dark chocolate brown with a fair amount of tan head that dissipates to tan lacing. The aroma is buttery sugar with notes of toasted nuts and malts and spices (vanilla). Flavor is rich and nutty with notes of vanilla and caramel. Body is a bit thick and creamy with just the right balance of carbonation. A very balanced rich beer. Quite quite delicious.

Bottle at Haket 2008-02-08. This is a good beer, in my opinion it’s perhaps a bit overrated, though I had my expectations very high when I tasted it. Dark but clear, brown and red in colour, medium tan head. Lots of stuff in aroma and taste, sweet, fruits (I’d say cherries), spices, can be found in both. A bit of oak in taste. It’s very enjoyable.

Bottle 33cl. Pours a dark brown oily brew. Nice stable and longlasting head for a quadrupel. Smells like danish butter cookies. Mahagony colour, clear, cloudy yeast. Top fermentation, slight sour taste. Dark chocolate, toffee, nougat, espresso. finish with a shot of alcohol, longlasting. A very nice brew, a bit expensive, one of the best beers i tasted so far.

Bottle 33cl. Dark brown hazy body with floating yeast and medium size off-white head. Nose with lots of fruity complex notes. Flavour extremely complex dominated by fruit, sweet, chocolate and a lot more. A true master.

This is my second bottle of Westy 12, and I’m even more blown away than the last bottle. I believe this one is a bit older as it doesn’t have the "Trappist" ring around the neck like the newer ones do. If this isn’t perfection in a bottle, I don’t know what is....maybe Supplication (my other perfect 5). I think I could smell this beer for hours, I don’t even need to drink it to appreciate its greatness. Smells like an amazing port with aroma of plums, fig, a light sweetness, and a bit of vanilla. Still taking in the aroma......jesus christ. Orgasm in a bottle, seriously. If I could drink this every day, I’d die a happy man. Palate is perfect, a bit creamy mouthfeel balanced well with the carbonation level. Taste is pretty malty, nutty, fig/plum/dried fruit flavor. Lingers on the tongue heavily after each sip. Simply amazing, can I give this is a 10 out of 5?

My 1000th rating! From a bottle, poured a murky looking brown, some redness in there as well, with a bubbly tan head. Lacing was marginal and carbonation was present. Aroma was a nice mix of sweet fruits almost like a sherry along with, subtle dried fruit notes and a moderate bread note. Flavor was a great balance between its fruit like sweetness and a malt backbone. I found the flavor to be really complex. It had a nice full mouth feel, seem to coat the palate. Alcohol was warming and the carbonation was adequate. This is truly a great beer.

I recently tried this beer in Bruges, Belgium and was blown away by the smell and smooth flavor. It is a very complex beer and much different than my favorite style (German Hefe) but I would have to say it is the best beer I have ever tasted. To be fair, I haven’t tasted hundreds of beers, but I have tasted many of the ones that rate highly on this site and others. It is worth the cost (it is even hard to find and expensive in Belgium) and effort. I would suggest all beer lovers to at least try one of these!