Westvleteren 12

It's not the hardest in the world to come by, although getting a bottle isn't so easy.  Someone has to go to the monastery that the beer is brewed at and pick it up.  Thanks to the wonders of the internet, my fiance was able to pick up a bottle on ebay that she purchased from someone in Belgium.  It's also not the most expensive beer in the world, that title is generally given to Samuel Adams' Utopia, which originally retailed for $100 a bottle, but now goes for $400 or more.  However, it is generally considered to be THE best beer on the planet.  It's voted as #1 on both Rate Beer and Beer Advocate, which I think says quite a lot.  The fact that it's also somewhat attainable should be pretty exciting for beer lovers.  While you're likely to pay upwards of $20 a bottle, it's something that pretty much anyone can do at least once in their  life.

Like the 8, it comes in a fairly unassuming bottle, plain brown with no label.  The only markings it has are a ring in the glass neck of the bottle that simply says Trappistenbier, and a bottle cap marking it as the Trappist Westvleteren 12.  The beer is a Quadrupel, which is a strong Belgian style, usually in the 10% range.  It's also supposed to be stronger in flavor than either the Dubbel or Tripel.  I haven't had a lot of this style.  In fact I think the only other Quad I've tried was Ommegang's Three Philosophers, which as I recall I didn't enjoy all that much.

Pouring the bottle into the glass was a little whiff of Belgium.  The smell was fruity, of cherries, apple, and candied sugar.  Around the edges of the smell there's a bit of round hops that have just a bit of bite.  It's a fairly strong smell, but mainly sweet, with little bitterness present.  Underneath was just a touch of roast, but it's faint.

The beer poured a deep brown color, fairly cloudy, and with quite a bit of sediment in the bottom.  There's nearly a finger of yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle, in large white flakes.  There's almost no head, just a slight dusting of off-white head.  The ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass left a touch of lacing.

The taste was initially of chocolate and fruit, with a good candy sweetness, but still some tartness in the mouth.  Towards the back of the tongue, a smooth hop bitterness took over.  The malty chocolate flavor sat just in the middle of the tongue.  I noticed just a hint of alcohol flavor as well, not nearly enough to indicate the 10.2+% that this beer contained.  The flavor was very strong though, absolutely filling the mouth, and leaving a fruity and bitter aftertaste for quite a while.

It's a very full bodied drink, absolutely thick and syrupy.  There's quite a bit of carbonation though, much more than I'd expect from such a thick beer.  It left a filmy coating on the teeth as well.  The beer warmed the throat going down, a much better indicator of how strong it is.

It's definitely a very good drink, and well worth getting your hands on one.  I didn't like it quite as much as the 8, but it's probably more a style preference than anything else.  I'm not sure exactly how old the bottle was, at least 4 months, and probably older.  It would be interesting to see how the flavors change between a fresh bottle and one that's aged.  I can see though why it's earned the reputation it has, although it's not the single greatest beer of my life, it's one that I thoroughly enjoyed, and am very glad to have experienced.

- Adam

Westvleteren 8

I didn't want to put off this post any more for fear of letting the memory of this beer go to long to do it justice. Westvleteren is the final trappist brewery that I had yet to try. Due to it's lack of distribution in the US, or anywhere in the world for that matter, the only way to get it is to go to the abbey in Belgium, or find someone to ship it to you. For Christmas, my girlfriend Julia did just that, and had someone from Belgium ship bottles of both the 8 and the 12 to her. Not much is know about the abbey other than the huge reputation of their brews, both the 8 and 12 are the top rated for their styles on Beer Advocate and Rate Beer (the 8 is a dubble and the 12 is a tripel). Because of their reputation and the difficulty in getting them, they're considered the "holy grail" of beerdom. I was worried that the beer wouldn't live up to the hype, or I wouldn't like it, or I'd get a bad bottle. Fortunately this did not seem to be the case. I'm not sure how old the bottle even is, all I was told was that one of the bottles was at least a year old as the abbey only brews one style of beer at a time.

The beer poured a deep murky brown, like dark chocolate. It was strongly hazy, as can be expected with a bottle fermented beer. The head was airy and a light tan color, about a finger thick, and dissipated to 1/4 finger. After that the head stuck around for a while and left moderate lacing on the glass.

The aroma was strong, I noticed it even while pouring. There was a predominant fruit quality to it as well, some cherry and some apple in the scent. Underneath were smells of chocolate, roast, a hint of coffee, and other dark fruits. It's very similar to the smell I remember Westmalle having, but much stronger, and very sweet. There's also a harder to describe earthen quality to the smell, of old wood or clay pots.

The taste was not nearly as sweet as I expected from the smell. Chocolate is present along with cherry notes, underneath is apple cider and a touch of nutmeg. There's earthy flavors as well, with a hint of smokiness and a bit of wood. I was getting a slightly bready quality to it as well, like a rye or whole wheat bread. A nicely rounded bitterness lingers on the sides of the tongue. I detected a bit of dark fruit, possible plum as well. Despite it's relatively high strength (somewhere in the 8% range or higher), I didn't notice any alcohol in the flavor. The aftertaste is equally pleasant, with smoked wood and grain dominant in the mouth. The overall balance and complexity of this beer is amazing.

In the mouth, the first thing that jumps out about this beer is the strong, sharp carbonation. Perhaps overly so. It has a good medium body, giving it just the right amount of substance. There's a nice smooth coating on the mouth as well. Going down it has just a bit of warmth, both from the spice and the alcohol. It's not wet enough to be considered refreshing, but it's not really dry either.

The drinkability of this beer is just incredible. It's strength is not apparent in the taste, just in the after-effects. I have no desire at all to drink this one quickly, but I feel like it's a flavor I'd never get sick of. Absolutely a drink to savor and enjoy.

- Adam