Westvleteren 12

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

pretty interesting beer, quite dark and strong, but really easy to drink. It’s certainly one of the best.

Pours darker brown color with a tan head. Aroma is of caramel malts, dark fruits, slight chocolate, and some acohol. Flavor was pretty much the same with more alcohol then I was expecting. Nice blend of flavors that aren’t overwhelming. Nice warming on the finish.

Bottle @ Volo, Toronto, ON: So excited to try this one - I’d planned on it being #1,000 but Volo made it much easier to obtain. Aroma of boozy black cherry, dark chocolate, lemon, caramel. Flavour is cognac, black pepper, grass, chocolate, stone fruits, black cherries and lots of subtle hopping that comes out strong after the swallow. Mellows so nicely, and amazingly smooth to drink. I can’t find anything wrong with it, just an exceptional beer.

Bottle, one month old, straight from the cellar. Pours a nice brown beer. Nose is not overwhelming, although nice and sweet aromas come trough. Rather small head. Taste is sweet with notes of caramel and chocolate and a nice warming after taste, yet not too overpowering.

Bottled 5/21/200, true Westvleteren bottle with no label. Sampled alongside the 8 and the Blonde. Was so incredibly excited to taste the #1 beer in the world, I might have gotten my hopes up a bit. While this is a very good beer, it’s not the best I’ve ever had -- in fact, I preferred the 8 even more! Dark brown murky pour with light edges. Thin cream-colored head fought hard to stay alive after a year-long journey from the brewery to the Midwest. Lots of fruit in the nose, from bright green apples to dark plums and some fig, tons of a caramel, and a whiff of booze. Flavor is incredibly sweet, with raw sugar overpowering the nice caramel and toffee undertones. This sugary sweetness is absent from the 8 and made it a better beer in my eyes.

Ok, finally I get to try this. Bottle picked up in a trade with the Beer Sommelier. Bottle doesn’t have the fancy label as the picture does. 2008 bottle. Nice fluffy head that appears to be fading away. The beer is nice and dark. Dark brown beer, that you can’t see through. Looks pretty good. Very nice dark fruit/candy aroma. Nice fruity smell. The alcohol is well hidden in the aroma. Nice pungent fruit aroma. Nice candy/fruit taste. Very smooth. The carbonation is not ridiculous; for this reason I give this beer a perfect palate score of 5. I am telling you one of the smoothest beers I have tried. Very nice dark fruit flavor. Fig taste with some yeast, and sugar sweetness. Very nice brew. I thought this beer might have been overrated, but I must say the score is quite in-line with its rating. Nice fruity beer with a DEEP flavor that just makes you go crazy. Again, very impressed, and just a powerful fruity beer.

Bottle thanks to Cletus, shared with JoeTheYounger and mspindler.. Bottled on 5/9/07...Pours chestnut brown with a off white head.. Aroma was buttered croissants, candied fruits and figs.. Flavor was very well balanced and hard to pick out one particular flavor.. Low carbonation and very smooth. Thanks John for hooking me up with this one.

Drank it next to the abbey, so probably still young. Dark brown, thick sticky head. Full bodied taste, alcohol is very present, caramel, coffee, malt, chocolate. Sweet at the beginning, but a hint of bitterness in the aftertaste. Overall impression: this is as good a beer can get. World class.