Drinking and holding Westvleteren 6, 8 and 12...

I’m sure this topic has been spoke of before, but wanted to share some recent experiences. I lived in Europe for three years and was lucky enough to have the opportunity to pick-up Westvleteren beers numerous times from the monestary. I have drank them at the Cafe in de Vrede (across the street from the monestary) and have enjoyed plenty of aged Westy’s at the Kulminator in Antwerp (which if you have not been, and you like Belgian beers, is an absolute must visit at least once in your lifetime). I additionally met a guy named Pieter in Belgium who found a little over a case of Westvleteren beers in his Grandmas basement. They dated from the late 70s and early 80s, back when the green-cap blond was called the Westy Dubbel and when the red-cap (no longer in production) was called the special. The blue-cap was called the extra and the yellow-cap 12 was called the ABT. These designations were printed on the caps with raised lettering in the glass bottles. Some of the bottles were of an unknown age, but were so old, that they had a thin cork lining inside the pressed bottle caps. We tasted many of these bottles...and while a good bit of them were not good, some of them withstood the ages and were tasty.

Just wanted to give some background on my experience with drinking Westvleteren so that I could provide some info based on a good bit of experience.

Westy currently makes three beers, the 6 (green cap), the 8 (blue cap) and the 12 (yellow cap). Red caps were a "special beer", close to that of a dubblel, that can still be purchased, despite the fact they were last brewed in 1998. The only place I know that has the red caps available is the Kulminator in Antwerp, Belgium. There are probably more places, but I do not know of them. (Note..even though the red caps are at a minimum 14 years old this year, every one I have tasted/drank, has been outstanding!)

Westvleteren beers have a date marked on the top of the beers. All are stamped with a date on the cap that is a date a certain number of years ahead of the bottling date (Westy 6s, 2 years; Westy 8s and 12s, 3 years). For example, a date on Westy 12 of 03/03/14 means the beer was bottled on 03/03/11.

All Westvleteren beers can be consumed immediately, however, the 8s and especially the 12s benefit from some proper cellaring.

The Westy 6, the blond (green cap), should be consumed immediately or within a year of getting it from the monestary. The Westy 6 is not made for aging and will lose flavor over time. Best to drink sooner than later. The 6s are out of this world fresh! (Sit down at the Cafe In de Vrede and order one of these first)

The Westy 8, the blue cap, can be aged and are best at about the 2/3 year mark. After the 2/3 year mark these beers tend to plateau and mellow out without gaining much. An 8 that is 3 years old will not be better than an 8 that is 5-8 years old. Once pas

Thanks for this info. The redcap and the green Dubbel are becoming rarer and rarer but are still drinkable if stored correctly.

I think you’ll find that a good number of folks here have had good results aging the Westy Blonde

My mind is a bit fuzzy, but the last green caps I had, a week or 2 ago, just said "blond" and I thought the best by on the Blond was a year or under, are you sure it is 2 years?

I definitely agree they are all good fresh, but that the 8 and 12 are better after a year or more.

additionally, I have had great success aging the 8, and really enjoyed the 5yr old ones Ive had.