Westvleteren 12

Sacramento, CA had it's 1st annual Beer Week this past week. Last night we went to an awesome Bar called Pangaea that has over a dozen Belgians on tap. They were able to get a case of Westvleteren 12 from Belgium. They did a Beer and Cheese pairing by Mike Moore. They only sold 30 tickets. I have to say I really enjoyed the Westy 12. They will soon have PTE on tap as well.

I have never had the Westy 12 before but have always wanted to.
Did you think that it was the best beer you have ever had?

SevenFields said:

I have never had the Westy 12 before but have always wanted to.
Did you think that it was the best beer you have ever had?

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It is a very nice beer, but I don't think it ranks as best beer ever. The hype really keeps it on a pedestal. That said, definitely worth having.

It is defnately one of the best. It is hard to pick "the best". I had some Pliny the Younger a couple weeks ago. I think the best part of the Westy was the fact that it is so hard to get.

My wife got me some bottles of Westvleteren 8 & 12 last year for Christmas. Both were excellent, but I liked the 8 a lot more than the 12.

Sacdan said:

It is defnately one of the best. It is hard to pick "the best". I had some Pliny the Younger a couple weeks ago. I think the best part of the Westy was the fact that it is so hard to get.

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See, the Younger is another hype beer. It is good, not amazing. I don't judge beer based on how hard it is to get.

Younger is a damn good beer. I don't judge beer on how hard is to get. I just like the fact that I was able to get them. That makes it an even better experience. Hope that makes sense.

I suppose. I don't judge beer on its availability, at all though. Probably because I can get most of what I want when it comes out.

Cool. How do you manage that?

Well, San Diego is a really good beer town. I think we had like 9 kegs of the Younger here when it came out. Everything seems to make its way here, and anything else I want is easy enough to ask friends for. I don't trade, but I know people who trade and share.

That is awesone. I wish we had somewhere around here that had PTY. I am going to RRBC this weekend. It's not a long drive from my house.

Sacdan said:

That is awesone. I wish we had somewhere around here that had PTY. I am going to RRBC this weekend. It's not a long drive from my house.

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Maybe this is stating the obvious, but if RRBC is not far from you, they had PTY about 4 weeks ago.

remilard said:

Maybe this is stating the obvious, but if RRBC is not far from you, they had PTY about 4 weeks ago.

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Maybe you should read all of my posts! I did have some!

I missed out on the Westy 12 tasting, but did get to meet up with Peter @ Odonata earlier in the week. Great guy and Water Witch was a rare beer I liked.

Sacdan said:

It is defnately one of the best. It is hard to pick "the best". I had some Pliny the Younger a couple weeks ago. I think the best part of the Westy was the fact that it is so hard to get.

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I agree its hard to say whats best, taste change based on when & where your drinking.

As for the best due to " it is so hard to get" is relative as I can get `westy fairly easy, same for my friends and yet we still think/feel its the best.


That said, `Westy 12 seems to really come into greatness after the 3-4yrs mark and even at 10yrs old it was still getting better. Fresh at In de Vrede cafe its a damn fine family of beers but I'll take mine with some age

Hey Houblon, if you don't mind my asking how is it easy to come by for you? I've been dying to try some.

I have a friend who has read every publication Mike Jackson has put out about Belgian beer, he is a nut. He informed me recently that Peter Celis was actually the brewmaster at Saint Sixtus and had a disagreement with rest of the monastery about the commercial selling of the beer for profit. At this point Peter departed to brew for St. Bernardus in Watou and along with him came the original recipe for Westy 12 which is now what you can typically find at any respectable belgian providing beer store, St. Bernardus Abt 12.

St Bernardus Abt 12 is my all time favorite beer.
I call it my Prozac beer, drinking it makes everything better!!!!

stageseven said:

...Both were excellent, but I liked the 8 a lot more than the 12.

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I totally agree seven.

Hype is very powerful.
It was quite good, & still have one bottle left in my cellar (for a rainy day), but I felt the 8 was a more enjoyable beer.

ldgenius2000 said:

Hey Houblon, if you don't mind my asking how is it easy to come by for you? I've been dying to try some.

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Walk to the fridge, open door, pick a bottle, open and drink

But really I get mine by jumping on a plane to Amsterdam or EU. at least once or twice per year. Not that bad for cost if you watch the airlines, how does $1200 for 2 tickets in august sound.




hukdizzle, St. Bernardus Abt 12 is not the same recipe.
The ibu are wrong for one:
St. Bernardus Abt 12- 22
westvleteren 12- 38

Houblon said:

St. Bernardus Abt 12 is not the same recipe

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True.

However, I believe it was "Brew Like A Monk" that let us know that they do share the same strain of yeast.

Different temperatures are used & possible different pitching rates as well.
Both of those variables will totally change the flavor of the beer, ergo...not the same beer at all.

Especially if you have them side by side.

Houblon said:

hukdizzle, St. Bernardus Abt 12 is not the same recipe.

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Agreed. I've had both. They were pretty substantially different IMO. I liked Wvesty 12 a lot more, though SB abt 12 is a darn good quad too.

Someone else on here once mentioned about a club meeting where they tasted each directly after one another, and he also confirmed that they were totally different and he preferred Wvesty.

Rarity does completely boost rankings. Wvesty was probably the best Trappist I've tried, but I don't like it more than IIPA's and such; my preference. It's not my best beer ever.

While in Amsterdam last week I did another side by side test with Westvleteren 12 vs St. Bernardus Abt 12, Westy12 was miles ahead.

If people want to say St. Bernardus Abt 12 is as good as a Westy than more power to'em but they're just fooling themselves

Dogslife said:

True.

However, I believe it was "Brew Like A Monk" that let us know that they do share the same strain of yeast.

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That's not the BLAM story.

Westvleteren brewed in-house from 1838-1946. They then outsourced, and St Bernardus brewed Westy from the late 1940s until about 1992 on a contract basis. At that point, Westvleteren started brewing in-house again (they were told they couldn't use the Trappist logo unless they actually brewed in a Trappist monastery; Achel actually lost their Trappist status around this time for several years until they moved brewing operations in-house).

When Westy went in-house, St Bernardus kept the original yeast and recipe. The new Westvleteren uses Westmalle yeast--they actually pick it up from Westmalle every brew day. Achel also uses Westmalle yeast.

So St Bernardus Abt 12 is the same recipe and yeast as the pre-1992 Westvleteren 12. All Westvleteren 12 produced since moving back within the walls of St Sixtus is a new recipe and yeast.

Westvleteren 12 was introduced in 1940, so it's been brewed by St Bernardus for 36 years (not counting the post-1992 St Bernardus Abt 12 beer that uses the traditional Westvleteren recipe) and by St Sixtus for 24 years.

Because both the recipe and yeast have changed, you have to know the date of reviews-e.g. all those classic pre-1992 Michael Jackson reviews are praising what is now called St Bernardus Abt 12, while newer reviews apply to the reformulated St Sixtus-brewed Westvleteren 12.