Westvleteren 6

Formerly brewed at Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus
Style: Belgian Ale
Westvleteren, Belgium

brown with a really fizzy head and body. The aroma has a bit of fruit but not much else. The extereme carbonation of this gets in the way of me getting a good feeling for the taste. Its a bit on the light side but has some fruityness and spicy notes.

Thanks to Yesper for carting this all the way to MN. Pours a dirty murky earthy brown with a light tan head. Slightly sour nutty nose with a hint of ripe fruit. Nice spicy palate with a dose of pepper and an earthy funkiness. Decent palate, but clearly the worst westy to date for me.

(Bottle from 1996) Pours a bit hazy, deep red. Lots of berry like tones in the aroma with notes of redcurrant and cherries. Also some almond, honey, caramel, grain and earth. Subtle but complex, vinous undertones in many layers. Malty, light chewable flavour of bread, toffee, almond and light caramel. Vinous and berry like tones in the flavour as well. Smooth and velvety mouthfeel with a lot of soft carbonation. Sweet honey-ish and light floral finish. Lingering aftertaste with a light sourish sting. Medium bodied. Please don’t hate me because I might be the first to say this wild and crazy thing but Westvleteren is probably one of the best breweries in the world.

Bottle, 1996-vintage (best before 2001), thanks to yespr. Clear amber coloured with an off white head, Aroma of fruits, yeast and spices with earthy notes and notes of dried fruits. Flavour of fruits, yeast, spices and hops with notes of earth. Hoppy finish.

Bottle. [Courtesy of yespr, quality tasting @ Papsoe] Finally I got to sample the last of the four. There were two vintage years where one of them seamed a bit oxidized. The one I sampled was a vintage 1998 and did not feel like it was oxidized at all. Impressive large creamy off-white head that really lasted. Clear and somewhat flat looking body with a reddish amber color. The initial aroma was very recognizable with notes of yeast, and heavy fruity notes. Raisin and prune could be detected amongst the complex fruity notes. Also some light spice, caramel, grain, liquorish, wood and maybe a hint of citrus. Medium bodied with an average carbonation. Moderated sweet flavor with light acidic. Very fruity and lingering finish. 28-09-2007

Westvleteren Dubbel. NOT RATEBLE. 30-05-2008 Bottel. [Courtesy of yespr, thanks buddy] vintage 1993. Small fizzy white head that mostly diminished. Spare lacework. Hazy brownish color. Aroma of prunes, fruit, caramel, cinnamon. Light bodied with a flat carbonation and somewhat thin texture. Light sweet flavor. Light sweet spicy finish.

Bottle 98 vintage @ kulminator. Has a much richer aroma and appearance than the actual flavour which is a fair bit lighter than I expected. Distinct hint of dirt in the aroma lead in by a peppery edge. Initial hit is a full mouth of prune and sweet then a slight hint of sourness in the finish. I think the lightness in the finish is actually kind of cool as it makes you forget you just had a mouthful and grab the glass again. I could probably spend the rest of the afternoon drinking this which would certainly make my wallet lighter for the walk afterwards. By trying this one a week after bierkoning I saved a euro as well, it’s now 11, hooray!

Bottle. [vintage 1998]. Bought @ Kulminator, Antwerp.
Pours a muddy brown with a small creamy off white head. Wonderful lacework. Aroma is sweet with lots of rye bread, some distant raspeberries and some general muskyness. Quite low carbonation. Flavour is sweet, balanced on rye-bread as well, some caramel sweetness and quite a dose of chocolate in the end. Nowhere near a match on other Westy’s.

3rd LCRBM. bottle 1998, same as bierkoning. Aroma has prunes and malts and some earthy tones. Hazy, brown coloured. Taste is sweet, has caramel malts, prunes, some earthy tones and some red wine. Most likely it was better a few years ago, but still its condition was really okay.