worlds best beer......Westvleteren XII

Hachiko · 09-06-2015 6:55pm #1

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/04/us-belgium-beer-trappists-idUSBREA330E820140404

has anyone had this? I am getting 8 bottles tomorrow.

never paid so much money in my life for beer but after doing some googling, well.

BeerNut · 09-06-2015 7:27pm

It's good, but it's not worth the usual asking price, IMO. I did a blind tasting with it a few years ago.

Hachiko · 09-06-2015 7:31pm

£40 for 8 bottles its setting me back.

hope it lives up to the hype.!

BMJD · 09-06-2015 7:36pm

I'd pay that!

Hachiko · 09-06-2015 7:37pm

want.........

http://www.beerhawk.co.uk/belgian-beers

lk67 · 09-06-2015 7:39pm

You've just reminded methat I was going to do a taste off between it and St.Bernardus Abt 12!

A project for this weekend maybe...

BeerNut · 09-06-2015 7:42pm

Hachiko wrote: »

£40 for 8 bottles its setting me back.

It was about €7 a bottle last time I bought it, in Brussels, so that's pretty good. £40 would buy you a lot of St Bernardus Abt 12, though.

Hachiko · 09-06-2015 8:04pm

thats belgium, outside there its mad expensive.

laros · 09-06-2015 9:47pm

a taste off between it and St.Bernardus Abt 12

I preferred St Bernadus Abt 12 to be honest.... I first had the Westvleteren XII in brussels in Au Bon Vieux Temps an it cost me €10 a bottle and while it was nice, it was more the "ceremony" of the way the bar staff poured it and the barmaid gave me the bottle cap afterwards...:) It's a lovely beer and I got a brick of it when it was released and some bottles were opened to mark my grandsons birth, when my son tried it he just wasnt impressed with it and couldnt understand the fuss about it ... I've done a taste test between it and St Bernadus and as regards Bang for your Buck...... I Would go with St Bernadus

Hachiko · 09-06-2015 11:23pm

the rarity of this is a big thing, I am going to get 12 bottles now. If the seller has any left. He bought 2 crates from the monastery.

Hachiko · 10-06-2015 6:55pm

here we have them, better wrap them up in cotton wool

BaZmO* · 10-06-2015 7:48pm

It's a top beer but I doubt it'd be in the top 10 if it was readily available.

Hachiko · 10-06-2015 8:14pm

Will have a XII over the weekend, but for now I got this

no idea what the hell it is

irish_goat · 10-06-2015 8:55pm

I've had a bottle the past 2 Christmas dinners but I've not been blown away by it. I might keep the other 4 and trade them in a few years for something a bit more exciting.

vicwatson · 10-06-2015 9:45pm

Hachiko wrote: »

£40 for 8 bottles its setting me back.

hope it lives up to the hype.!

Where to buy?

twerg_85 · 10-06-2015 10:22pm

I thought it was (very) nice, but the 'best in the world' tag is due to exclusivity rather than pure taste /quality.

Nogne IPA is one of the best I've tasted.

F.

oblivious · 11-06-2015 8:29am

twerg_85 wrote: »

I thought it was (very) nice, but the 'best in the world' tag is due to exclusivity rather than pure taste /quality..

In parts of the beer world, the hard to find the beer is , the better it is. Unfortunately

BaZmO* · 11-06-2015 8:39am

oblivious wrote: »

In parts of the beer world, the hard to find the beer is , the better it is. Unfortunately

You could say the same for the wine world too.

There's a tipping point where a beer/wine can't really taste any nicer and it's after that point that the exclusivity becomes the defining factor in cost.

youcancallmeal · 11-06-2015 8:52am

Going to Brussels in a few weeks, do most decent bars have it for sale?

BeerNut · 11-06-2015 9:27am

No, it's fairly rare in pubs since it's not available wholesale. De BierTempel off licence on Rue du Marché aux Herbes always seems to have it in stock when I look.

oblivious · 11-06-2015 9:37am

BaZmO* wrote: »

You could say the same for the wine world too.

Probably a lot worse

A least with beer you can pick up a something like rochefort 10 in a lot of good off licence for around 6-ish euro. The wine equivalent you going to pay a hell of alot more

BaZmO* · 11-06-2015 10:17am

oblivious wrote: »

Probably a lot worse

A least with beer you can pick up a something like rochefort 10 in a lot of good off licence for around 6-ish euro. The wine equivalent you going to pay a hell of alot more

Yeah I was only saying that over the weekend. You could try a World Top 10 beer without having to remortgage your house. You couldn't say the same for a top 10 wine.

jester77 · 11-06-2015 10:20am

I've a few bottles aging in my basement, 2 years down. Will give them at least 1 more.

laros · 11-06-2015 10:30am

Going to Brussels in a few weeks, do most decent bars have it for sale?

The place in the tripadvisor link below is where I tried it, Tho I notice in the link comments they seem to have increased the price to €12 a bottle

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d2704030-Reviews-Au_Bon_Vieux_Temps-Brussels.html

Lovely Bloke · 11-06-2015 10:50am

jester77 wrote: »

I've a few bottles aging in my basement, 2 years down. Will give them at least 1 more.

yeah, I've a bottle aging about 3 years now too. Was going to open it when my son was born, then when he was 1.

I shared a bottle with my brother on his wedding day 3 years ago, and he gave me the bottle I have now from his brick.

Geuze · 11-06-2015 12:23pm

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Going to Brussels in a few weeks, do most decent bars have it for sale?

Note that you are going against the wishes of the monks if you buy it from a bar or shop that is reselling it without the agreement of the brewery.

Only one cafe sells it with the agreement of the monks, and that's across the road from the brewery.

http://sintsixtus.be/

Aka Ishur · 11-06-2015 12:29pm

I had the chance to drink a 2 year old bottle given as a birthday gift. Its a lovely balanced beer with beautiful distinct flavours. Its not a beer you could define by a single taste.

aaronm13 · 11-06-2015 1:22pm

Is there anywhere around Dublin selling this? I checked on the McHuges website and they have it listed but can't seem to buy it. Definitely remember seeing it somewhere before buy can't remember, possibly Sweeney's.

BeerNut · 11-06-2015 1:28pm

It's not normally commercially available outside the brewery. The brewery did a commercial release of six-pack "bricks" a few years ago, and the Irish distributor secured a big supply, but I doubt there's much of that left. We're back to the grey market being the only way to get hold of it, and nowhere in Ireland deals in grey market beer, that I know of.

Lovely Bloke · 11-06-2015 1:32pm

sounds like an opportunity.

aaronm13 · 11-06-2015 8:55pm

Anyone care to pop up a link or pm where I might be able to buy some bottles. Searched but only got sites with stupid prices. The 40 pound for 8 bottles mentioned earlier in this post sounds doable.

BaZmO* · 11-06-2015 9:19pm

aaronm13 wrote: »

Anyone care to pop up a link or pm where I might be able to buy some bottles. Searched but only got sites with stupid prices. The 40 pound for 8 bottles mentioned earlier in this post sounds doable.

You'd be doing well to get it better that!

aaronm13 · 11-06-2015 9:25pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

You'd be doing well to get it better that!

Yeah, seems a good price, just need the link now. It's like the Golden ticket I think.

Hachiko · 11-06-2015 11:27pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

yeah, I've a bottle aging about 3 years now too. Was going to open it when my son was born, then when he was 1.

I shared a bottle with my brother on his wedding day 3 years ago, and he gave me the bottle I have now from his brick.

this beer 'ages' ?

I got this from work, hence the 'cheap' price.!

FWIW

The Westvleteren Brewery (Dutch: Brouwerij Westvleteren) is a Belgian brewery founded in 1838 inside the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in the Belgian municipality of Vleteren, not far from the hops-producing town of Poperinge and the medieval city of Ypres. The brewery and its beers are usually referred to as Westvleteren. The brewery's three beers have acquired an international reputation for taste and quality, being considered by a percentage of beer aficionados and judges to be "the best beer in the world" (for Wesvleteren XII, a Quadrupel)[1] as well as the limited availability of the beers which are not brewed to normal commercial demands, but are sold in small quantities weekly from the doors of the monastery itself, to individual buyers after reservation only

Saruman · 12-06-2015 3:30pm

I'll be at the brewery/abbey in August. Looking forward to it. I've had the beer plenty of times and have plenty at home that I have been ageing for years. Great beer, not worth the hype though. I actually prefer Westvleteren 8 myself.

Hachiko · 12-06-2015 7:05pm

will knock back soon, my birthday today.

slainte guys

Mesrine65 · 12-06-2015 7:37pm

Happy birthday Hachiko, enjoy

Aka Ishur · 13-06-2015 8:27pm

belgianbeerfactory.com claims to be selling some online. I have used them before without issue as long as you are patient.

aaronm13 · 13-06-2015 9:53pm

Aka Ishur wrote: »

belgianbeerfactory.com claims to be selling some online. I have used them before without issue as long as you are patient.

Cheers for the link. Site looks fantastic an very reasonable. €18 delivery for up to 48 bottles too seems good. Time to place an order I think. What am I looking at for delivery times?

Aka Ishur · 13-06-2015 11:06pm

depends on availability, but i'm happy with 2 week turn around. lets say the guy is slow enough to make items out of stock hoping he'll get them in in the coming weeks.

Fairly contactable tho with email and facebook etc

Cantstandsya · 17-06-2015 10:33pm

It's a great beer and one of the nicest I've tried but, honestly, I prefer Rochefort 10, not to mention Weihenstephaner Vitus or our own Foam and Fury.

Westy12 · 06-07-2015 9:14pm

*SNIP*

Read the forum rules Westy12. What you're suggesting is against them.

Westy12 · 07-07-2015 4:39pm

Oeps, sorry. It was not my intention to post something against the forum rules. I just wanted to answer the question from aaronm13 in post #32.

aaronm13 · 11-07-2015 1:52pm

Got some of these bad boys this morning. Wife got them for my birthday. Got some Rochefort 10 to compare. Can't wait to try one later.

poitinstill · 11-07-2015 9:43pm

whats in the no label ones Westy12 im presuming... why no labels? i have a brick of it but havnt opened yet

BeerNut · 12-07-2015 10:53am

poitinstill wrote: »

why no labels?

Labels are for attracting people to a product on a shelf. Westvleteren beers (bricks excepted) are only supposed to be sold from the brewery, so no need for labels. All the statutory information is in tiny writing on the cap.

youcancallmeal · 01-08-2015 3:38pm

laros wrote: »

The place in the tripadvisor link below is where I tried it, Tho I notice in the link comments they seem to have increased the price to €12 a bottle

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurant_Review-g188644-d2704030-Reviews-Au_Bon_Vieux_Temps-Brussels.html

Was in there on Thursday night and it is now €15 a bottle! Didn't go for it as I couldn't stomach the price and I also had a good few beers at that stage and wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully

cjlawlor · 19-08-2015 6:41pm

I paid the full €15 for it in Au Bon Vieux Temps a couple of weeks ago... It's great to have tasted it and as a once off experience, I really enjoyed it. It was an excellent beer but to be honest I prefer Rochefort 10.

Mesrine65 · 20-08-2015 11:46am

Exclusivity does not 'The World's best beer' make IMHO

A tasty drop indeed, but there are beers out there that are readily available & just as tasty/heady to be had.

worlds best beer......Westvleteren XII

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