Westvleteren 12, is it all it is supposed to be?

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aekdbbop

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Any one tried it, I am wanting to get a bottle off of ebay just so i can. Is it all it's cracked up to be?
 
I'm interested in trying this also, but $30 for a bottle (with shipping) seems steep, especially since some European travels may be in my future anyways...

According to Beeradvocate though, it sure ranks up there. A+ ranking?! I'm sure some of the people are reviewing based on hype alone and don't really have a trained palate, but I'm sure a lot of those reviews are accurate.

I ran a search on the forum and there was a landhoney post about this that got to be a few pages long... I trust his palate, as well as others who replied in the thread, so I think its pretty darn good.

I still may give in an buy one or two at some point... to this point the most expensive brew I've bought was a $15 12oz of DFH WW Stout that is a few years (3 now?) old. The problem with spending that much on one small bottle is you wait and wait to drink it. I've had this one sitting in the cellar for over a year now. I need to crack it soon. I can see the same happening if I bought any Westy 12...
 
It's one of the most amazing beers I've ever had. I bought it when we had it in my shop for a smidge over wholesale, which ended up being like $7. Well worth it and more. Because of the price that you normally have to pay, though, it's more one of those "try it once just to say you did" kind of things.

It also ages quite well, as the second bottle attested to.
 
Why yes, yes I have. :D .

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It is an awesome beer, and I would rank it as the best I've ever had. But I think the "chase" adds alot to it. I drank mine at the cafe, and also have a 6 pack at home aging. The complexity is amazing. Their other beers are very good also, especially their blonde. We plan on going to Oktoberfest this year, and I will be making every attempt to get to St. Sixtus and get a case to bring home.
 
freyguy said:
I will be making every attempt to get to St. Sixtus and get a case to bring home.


Do they actually let you take it on the plane? Or are you going to stuff it away in the luggage?
 
In my opinion it is very over-rated. Don't get me wrong I think it is a very good beer but is definatly not the best beer in the world as some believe.

And the 8 is far better to me. I think the less alcohol allows other flavors to come to the front. The blonde was quite good as well. Nice and hoppy.

I would tell anybody to get some if you can, but don't pay an astronomical price for it.
 
I think it its. I've heard that batches vary sometimes more than other commercial beers though. To me, that accounts for some who say it wasn't that great. Or that the person is drinking too cold or out of the 'wrong' glass.
To me, in the bottle I had, you can't match the complexity of flavors in this beer. You may not care for the flavors, most do, but I think its complexity is basically unmatched. Its so well made too, the dry'ish finish in such a malty/complex beer...amazing.
 
It is really, really, damned good. However, I do not find it worth much of the mess it takes to get it. The current frenzy, due to recent publicity, surrounding it is unwarranted, as are the prices.


TL
 
I'd love to try it, but I'm with TexLaw, I just can't see going to all that trouble and paying that much to get it.
 
Can't take it as carry on, no. Thank 9-11 for that I suppose. :(

Can take it as a piece of luggage though. I'm thinking about boxing it up extremely well, and just checking a box. Or I've heard of others shipping it back to the states via boat for pretty cheap. I guess you'd have to box it either way, but if your gonna take a bunch of beer back, the ship is the way to go.
 
It is very tasty. I got lots of plum and other fruity flavors. I also have one in cellar waiting for the unknown special occasion.

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Like others said. Get on a plane and go to Belgium. If you go in the off season it isn't as much as you would think.
 
freyguy said:
Can't take it as carry on, no. Thank 9-11 for that I suppose. :(

Can take it as a piece of luggage though. I'm thinking about boxing it up extremely well, and just checking a box. Or I've heard of others shipping it back to the states via boat for pretty cheap. I guess you'd have to box it either way, but if your gonna take a bunch of beer back, the ship is the way to go.
I brought 30 beers back from Europe in my checked luggage with no problems. Just plan ahead and bring some duct tape and bubble wrap.
 
I work for Lufthansa Airlines so I'm constanly traveling to Germany for work. On one of my last trips I visited Belgium just for the specific purpose of seeing the Abbey. To save everyone a long story let me just say this... It meets the hype with out a doubt, but the best beer in the world who could ever know (Michael Jackson maybe). Regardless it is a fine beer, one that was well worth the trip.
 
We went this August and had several rounds in the cafe. As others have said, the beer is amazing but it was an awesome journey to the abbey too. We rode bikes through the hop fields in the Belgian countryside to the abbey in the middle of nowhere. We had 2 blondes, one 8, and five 12's. The ride back was fun.

Don't waste the experience on ebay. Go get a fresh one.
 
I had this in Brussels recently. Paid €10 for the bottle in a small pub off the Main Square. I figured when in Rome. Nowhere near as good as it is made out to be, but then, how could it!? This beer is a victim of it's own myth. No denying it's a top beer, I enjoyed it immmensely, but in my personal opinion there are better out there in Belgium, and allot of folk there would agree
 
I ended up tracking down a bottle of the blonde and the 12 in Amsterdam. I thought they were definitely good brews (favoring the 12), but finding them without a visit to the abbey was a real pain.

I was more impressed by walking into the supermarkets in Belgium and being able to buy any of the Rochefort brews for a euro or two!
 
Nowhere near as good as it is made out to be, but then, how could it!? T

I agree, it is hard to go into anything thinking that it'll be the best ever. Too my hype is just unfortunate. The story is nice though, and given the opportunity I would certainly give the beer a try.
 

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