Westvleteren 12

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

2008 Bottle at a tasting- Thanks Sam! - Pours a hazy dk brown with a tiny off white head...aroma is absurd, honey, dk fruit, malt, some cocoa spice...flavour is terrific as well, dense dough, spice, a nice burn...almost impossible to live up to that hype, but it was terrific!

After a year in my fridge, after a few near misses with this rolling out of my fridge, after staring at it for hours on end it is time to crack the westy 12 that I picked up from e-bay for a ungodly price ( cue dramatic music ). Me and beercronic finally decided it was time to drink the westies, but first we put it up against the St. Bernardus Abt 12, Rochefort 10, and Chimay blue, in a blind tasting battle royal. But doing it blind made for some interesting results ( cue suspenseful music ). It turns out for me anyway that the westy came in daed last in this blind tasting, not to say it was a bad beer but compared to the rest especially the Rochefort 10 it fell short. But enough of this on the review. Beer poured a dark, dark brown and had a minimal head just a skiff floated on top, and when I got close to the bottom of the bottle feta cheese looking chunks where plopping down in to the lake of beer. Aroma was very tasty, earth, floral notes, toffee and some very noticeable alcohol, the alcohol fit in very nicely into the aroma giving it a pleasant warming quality. Taste was yummy warm and cozy, lots of dark toffee malts, nice floral notes, warm alcohol and a nice spicy presence. Banana became more aggressive in the taste the longer I drank what made the beer smoother and took some of the edge off the alc. This beer tasted way more simple then I ever imagined it would, not nearly as complex as the Rochefort 10 but still very interesting to drink. I don’t think this beer lived up to its legend that it has, don’t get me wrong this is still one of the best beers in the world but I do not believe it is the best. I’ll give that honor to Rochefort 10. On a side note to this story as me and beercronic where attempting to do this review I was cooking supper and forced into my bed room due to the insane Caribbean jerk chicken smell coming from the bbq, and then chased out of there into the hallway of my condo building when the three heads of garlic I was using to make homemade garlic bread started to melt are faces off. Aw good times had by all.

As all Abt/Quadrupels, it should be served on cellar temperature (8-12°C / 46-54°F) to get the full taste of these beers. Normally I only have the chance to drink this beer when I visit my homeland. In Budapest I got the chance to drink one in the bar/ restaurant called "Mosselen" However the bottle came from the fridge and I asked to keep it for about 1/2 out of the fridge before serving. For me, this beer is my all time favourite since more than 25 years.

Poured a murky brown color with a large frothy light brown head. Large particles in the body and even some particles in the head. Very complex beer with a wonderful mouth feel. Soft carbonation. Flavors of cinnamon, plum and brown sugar.

Dark red colour with thin white head. Chocolate-blackcurrent aroma. Smooth well balanced mouth feel,tingly tounge,very warm. Well deserved for being great beer. A great wedding gift,sadly you only married once.

Bottle. Deep amber pour with a decent head. Dark fruit aroma and taste with a hint of chocolate/butterscotch. Very smooth and quite sweet. A nice one to end the day. Certainly an elegant beer but not the best beer in the world in my opinion.

Bottle. Pours a deep brown, thin headwith spotty lacing. Some serious solids going on here. Aromas of apple, cinnamon, raisin (Tim Hortons?), brandy and amlt. Something sulphurous and vaguely unpleasant. Sour cherries, rooty-sasparilla character, hops, biscuit, seems unbalanced. Palate is sicly sweet, yeasty, apparent complexity marred by inappropriate sweetness. Dark caramel, spice, fig, pickels. Sweet sandwich pickles, the kind you get at funerals with the cheese and meat trays. Carbonation was lacking, hoped for more, Disappointing.

Bottle at PPRBSG09. Pours a dark murky brown with a thick white head. Aroma is very fruity--lots of dark fruits (plum, apple, and fig) plus some honey. Flavor is nice and fruity, with yeast notes and a rich malt base. The palate sort of had a pulp-like quality to me. Very nice and delicious! I can’t wait to try this again. 8/4/9/4/16 (4.1/5)