Westvleteren 12

Type: Belgian Quad

ABV: 10.2%

Location:  Vleteren, Belgium (consumed Mareeba, Australia)

Also known affectionately as the Westy 12, this brew is the so called number 1 beer in the world (ratebeer.com, 2014), but does it live up to the hype?

Brewed by a holy order of Belgian Trappist Monks, nestled in the town of Vleteren, to drink this beer is the quest of legends.  The monks brew three distinct beers with only the cap separating the bottles.  They brew the green capped Blond, the blue capped 8 and the most famous of all the yellow capped 12.

This beer is extremely difficult to get your hands on, mostly due to the supply and demand for the brew.  It is allegedly only sold only in Belgium, and only then at specific locations.  Apparently it is not supposed to be resold after purchase and is considered a black-market beer.  Something that I didn’t know during my very short stint in Bruges, Belgium.

Traveling from Amsterdam to the Cliffs of Dover, we were able to have an hour stopover in Bruges, Belgium.  I spent my entire time in doing two things:

  1. Lining up for French (or should I say Belgian) fries (a story for another time).  And
  2. Scouring every liquor store for the mysterious and illusive Westy 12.

30 minutes later after being laughed out of several stores, I soon realised this would be no easy task.

I returned to Australia, feeling defeated that I wasn’t able to taste “the world’s greatest beer.”  Months passed and I was surprised with a present from my Mrs.  It was a Westvleteren pack, consisting of three blonds and three 12s.  Including the postage and the exchange rate, apparently it cost almost $300 Australian Dollars for a six pack!  I am no Mathematician but that is $50 a beer!  I could buy a whole carton of most premium international beers for that price.  Would it be worth the cost?

 

This quad was everything I usually hate in a beer mixed into one.  Yet strangely, it seemed to all work together.  Much like the 3 stooges syndrome from the Simpsons.  From the bottle it pours a dark brown, chocolatey colour, maybe a reddish tinge to it? Big frothy thick head (not as thick as stouts like Guinness though).  Hovering my nose over it I could smell wafts of inviting dark fruits and caramel, two things I usually avoid in beers.  The beer spoke to me.  “Drink me, drink me” it whispered, almost menacingly.  I did what the Westy 12 told me to, partially out of fear, partially out of curiosity; I was lured in by this succubus.  Would it live up to expectations?  Sip after sip, the beer just got better and better.  Plum, caramel, syrup, fig a concoction of flavours that on their own wouldn’t have worked, seemed to complement each other.  The aftertaste, the taste left tingling in the back of your throat was even more enjoyable then the sip itself.  So smooth.  At 10.2% ABV this beer packs a serious wallop, however the taste of alcohol wasn’t over powering.  I find most beers over 5.5% ABV start to taste just like alcohol.  The Westy 12 was able to maintain this high alcohol percentage but maintain its taste, not an easy feat.

Worth $50 a beer?  No.  Could I drink a carton? Yes.  Would it send me broke?  Double yes.

4 ¼ /5 (that is right I work in quarter stars)

 

  1. Yes I know I drank it out of the wrong shaped glass… Please forgive me.