Trappist Westvleteren 12 (28.10.18 stamped on the bottle cap)-Brouwerij de Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren
I always have difficulty reviewing a world class beer and this proved no exception as it is now almost 48 hours since I sipped this 330 ml bottle, gifted by our US-Belgian friend. I was stunned when he brought over two bottles and told me we were drinking them together. I'll guess it's been about 15 years since I savored one of these.
Decanted gently at cellar temperature into my smallish Gouden Carolus chalice from a capped but unlabeled brown bottle except for the raised letters of "TRAPPISTENBIER" encircling the bottleneck. Our friend brought his own "official" Westvleteren chalice
. He thinks the bottles were bought in 2016 or 2017. Appearance was dark brown with a moderate, creamy tan head that formed a wonderful, lingering Belgian lace. There was a very small amount of fine sediment, likely yeast from the bottle conditioning. Aromas were seductive dark fruits (raisins, dates, figs, plums and cherries). Mouthfeel was quite creamy and smooth, almost viscous. Tastes were amazingly complex, mirroring the aromas and with other flavors of Belgian milk chocolate and dark rum (neither added nor barrel-aged). Bitterness almost non-existent. I'll guess IBUs about 30 based on the quadruple style. Very warming (ABV at 10.2%) throughout the hour or more it took us to sip and converse. Food pairing? Call/PM me if you find this in the United States of have any shipped to your home and we can discuss then
.
I'm not sure I'll ever taste this again as he told me how difficult it is to obtain, even being a Belgian citizen as it's done via a complex system of phone calls, reservations and Belgian license plates (no matter what links fuse posts here about "gaming" the system
) and brewed in limited quantities as the monks saying is (paraphrasing) that they don't live to brew beer but brew beer to live, only brewing enough annually to "make budget" for their monastery.
This may be the best beer I've ever had. I guess DeuS that I probably reviewed here several years ago comes close but that's an entirely different style being a tripel that is brewed in Belgium and then re-fermented in France via their champagne method. You can look at the Top 250 list that I posted a couple days ago and discuss all the barrel-aged, IIPAs, sours, imperial stouts you've tasted and how there are 34 other beers ranked above this now (it used to be considered the best beer in the world for years), but, if I get my beverage of choice before heading to eternity, this is the one I'd select. Truly an amazing ale.