Westvleteren 12

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

I had been saving the Westvleteren 12 bottle for a few months, and decided to celebrate reaching the halfway point of the 300-book with it.
Appearance: Dark brown. Little bit of head. Cloudy. Aroma: Vinous, malty. Alcohol?! Fruity. Taste: Vinous, very fruity. Malt. Hops. Warming. Info: 330ml bottle, 28/8-2006, 150/300

Excellent beer! Can’t really say much more. Had it at Gollum in Amsterdam, just an amazing brew. Near perfection.

Bottle from Shyam. Very unique. Manages to not taste like any other Belgian. Very thick flavor up front like the dark purple artificial grape of snowcones and Otterpops. After that, wood (but not barrel), dark date, raisin, and overripeness. My second bottle - also from Shyam - featured a deep, DEEP soily aroma and flavor - complete ignorance of the fruitiness of the first go-round. Both are thick and dark and could only have been made by devoted individuals.

No way.....are you kidding me? I think this beer is OK, but much too sweet, raisins and plums and small sherry notes.....Gimme a bernardus 60th anyday! I’ve had a lot beter beers tha this...

Several 0.33l bottles from the monastery, drank over a long period. Pours deep mahogany with a dissapearing foamy head. Smells of wood, malt, yeast sugars, and alcohol, very thick and viscous in the mouth. Taste is caramel, dark wood, yeast, malt, sour, cola with a strong alcohol finish. Small carbonation. Very enjoyable,complex and rewarding beer. After each bottle my estimation of this beer goes up, I think it’s as close to beer perfection as you can get.

Deep ebony body, light tan head, invigorating amount of carbonation. Inviting first impression: the beer’s 10.2% is a quite pleasant afterthought in conjunction with a rich, earthy palate. Brown bread, vanilla and ripe plums came to mind almost immediately, fading to a brief hint of spicy-floral with soft chocolate overtones. Understated yet enjoyable hops used to great success. Impressive, long-lived aftertaste, at first reminiscent of the tannin complex in Darjeeling teas, and then receding evenly and cleanly. [Served at the "In de Vrede" cafe, Westvleteren, Belgium. A real treat, and a must-try.]

Deep mahogony in color this poured a thick fluffy beige head. The nose gave off complex scents of sweet dark fruit, raisins, dark malt, chocolate dipped toffee, yeast, mineral and dark caramel. In the mouth it was medium-bodied with nice concentration yet light-on-its-feet due to the abundance of carbonation. The mouthfeel is soft and round with good richness in the midpalate which adds some dry/bitterness on the finish. Balance is the key work here and it has that in spades!

The legendary Westvleteren 12, sipped in a pub in Groningen (De Pintelier) for quite an amount of money, let’s see if it’s worthy... Very strong malty smell, light sweet, dark bread with a little bit of alcohol. Very small white fizzy head, which disappears fast and fully, the body is black. The taste is light bitter and very malty, very long duration. Flat carbonation, medium body, dry and very creamy texture, really nice! A very nice beer, maybe not the best in the world but really a very good one!