Westvleteren 12

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

The head forms a loose ring around the edge of the glass. Slightly uneven, but fine-bubbled and more effervescent in this bright light than I would have imagined. Color is rusty, brownish-red color, partially translucent but hazy (bottle swirled). The incredibly complex aroma sets the stage perfectly for this beer. A multitude of different breads, sweetness, alcohol, date, plum, wine, yeast and many more things are here. The flavor is one of the most intriguing I’ve yet found. It goes through so much development, so many stages... The array of tastes as time goes by with each sip is truly wondrous. Malt is obviously in control here, lending a variety of fruit and other flavors that progresses into something new as the aftertaste comes about and as the beer warms. Complex, to say the least. The finish is equally intriguing, warming, and satisfying. Maybe the longest finish from any beer I’ve tried to date. One of my friends described it as ’the Earth in a glass.’ The changes this beer undergoes are amazing. Writing about it does it no justice at all, it must be tried. Find it.

I had to re-rate this after having my second one. I had trouble rating it the first time because of all the hype, which seemed to be clouding my judgement. But the second time I could just drink it and enjoy. I rated it 4.7 the first time, and now I give it a 4.9. I just can’t bring myself to rate a beer a perfect 5, because then I would know that it’s all downhill from there! But this is as close as I’ve ever gotten to perfect, it is delicious, it leaves me wanting more, and if it is all I ever had to drink for the rest of my life I would be happy.

Not as thick as I had expected. The chocolate kicked in with a vengeance about 2/3 of the way through the glass; before that, it had been nothing but various fruits and wine. Priceless.

Sampled 3 ozs many years ago, finally a bottle for myself. I’m speechless, thoughtless, don’t know what to say. Absolutely the best Belgian Ale I ever had. Deep dark murky brown ale, fluffy off-white head. The nose is so complex with rich buttery dark fruits, brown sugar, caramel, fresh bread dough, and a hint of chocolate. Flavor is all of the above with the dark fruit notes of cherry, fig, raisin, and plum dominating. Light chocolate and butter crunch flavors bounce in and out of the dark fruit bowl with grace. Hops are well hidden, but show up ever so slightly as I work my way through the chalice. Full bodied, pillow soft carbonation, smooth creamy, decadent finish. Find yourself a bottle and savor every drop.....

Maibockaddict and I have been looking for this for so long. Pours dark brown in color. Big malty flavor. So good. Rich beer, complex. I enjoyed it.

Raisins, dark fruit, liquorice, chocolate, spice, prune, caramel. Nomatter how many times you smell this beer you can keep picking up new aromas! Black with a tan head. Chocolate sweet raisins, spice, fruitcake, caramel, berries, amazing. Cannot taste alcohol at all. Soft silky mouthfeel. Amazing stuff. I have to try this again! cheers duff!! Re-Rate: Black/dark brown with a tan lasting head. Not much more to add apart from "The worlds best session beer. Cannot detect alcohol. +1 appearance too.

Bottle straight from the Abbey. Dark brown colour with a creamy strong beige head. Full body. Fruity, some spiciness, nutty, coffee. Some warmth from the acohol. creamy. A very good beer!!!

Bottle (330ml). Big shout-out to blankboy for allowing me to piggyback on his Belgianshop.com order!. MY 500TH RATING. Served at approximately 12 celsius in my Westvleteren goblet. Poured a lively dark amber-brown with a decent off-white foamy head - the last 10% of the pour showed a fair bit of tiny black particles (tasty!). Initial aroma pounded my hindbrain: yeast; sweet dough, strong fruits, hint of wine, roast malt, roast nuts - more emerged as it opened, other fruits, caramel sweetness, earthy tones. And oh, the flavour - all of the above, but with a restrained bitterness - alcohol & hops, perhaps? - keeping it in balance. Each taste had a different mouthfeel as more and more elements vied for my attention - mouthfeel was full-bodied, not flat or carbonated - just complex. Ultimately I have to rate this a 5.0 - it’s by far the best thing I’ve ever tasted; while there have been a couple of imperial stouts that are up there, this is definitely the holy grail of beers. My only regret making this my 500th rating is I can’t ALSO make it my 1000th! *note - re-rated down to 4.9 because on reflection I can’t in good conscience claim anything is perfect - perfection is to be sought after, never attained.