Westvleteren XII

In a stroke of brilliance, my girlfriend got me one of the very briefly available Westvleteren XII (Westy 12) gift packs that were released shortly before Christmas this past year as a Christmas present.  These exceedingly expensive 6-packs were sold to raise funds to repair the historic Abbey that the monks of Westvleteren call home.  The pack consisted of 6 beers plus 2 glasses packed in a "brick" cardboard box.  The significance of the brick is that the pack would fund one brick of the new construction I presume. 

Previously the availability of this beer was very limited - you had to be in Belgium to get a hold of them, or find them for big dollars on the grey market.  These gift packs sold out within days, and now we are back to this same limited availability.   As a result, drinking this beer is a bittersweet experience - I don’t know if I’ll ever have the chance to have one again once these run out.  

My solution to this is to spread out my consumption of these beers as much as possible.  Four months later I’ve still only had one of the six.  I plan to keep the final 2 for at least 5 years.   This is a Belgian Quad that will age very well - likely get better for many years to come.  I am only limited by my own patience. 

So, this beer has been rated #1 in the world by a couple of major beer sites.  It must be good.  What does it taste like?  Well… everything.  I neglected to take tasting notes when I drank this bottle so I’m now working off 4 month old memory, but I distinctly remember there being a lot of dark fruit, coffee, chocolate, everything you come to expect in a huge Belgian dark ale.  ABV is 10.2%.  It reminded me of Gulden Draak in its flavour profile, though fuller and more rounded.  It is absolutely a sipping beer, and even 100mL will last you some time.  It has a long and complex finish and is best approached like you would a nice single malt.   I look forward to opening bottle #2, which will happen before Spring’s end.