Westvleteren abt 12

I had to buy it online. I *think* I got it from Binny's in Chicago.

Best regards, Bill

Well, one way is by going to the monestary and buying it.

Another is to go to pubs in Belgium that sell it.

Another is to have friends bring it back go to the monestary and bring it back for you.

The easiest is to look around some of the better beer stores and bars and hope one of the occasional shipments that makes it into the States is available. I've bought Westvleteren from Sam's in Chicago before, and I've bought a bottle at Higgins in Portland. I know it's popped up other places in the States as well. But, no question, this is not a very easy beer to find, and definitely the rarest of the Trappists.

-Steve

Thanks.

You think you guys have it tough.... try living in Puerto Rico.

I have NEVER EVER seen a Belgian beer available anywhere here in PR. The best you can hope for is Bass Ale on a regular basis. Apart from the usual selection of Bud/Miller/Coors the only thing worth drinking is Bass. Samuel Adams lager and Heineken. They used to import Newcastle and Guinness but they stopped for lack of demand. Now there is somebody importing micros in small batches but it's never the same one twice. One time it's Dogfish Head then the next batch 3 months later is Anderson Valley. His latest selection is from North Coast brewing but even at that it's 12/ six pack or 4 pack (Rasputin).

I guess I will have to wait for my next trip stateside and see if I can stumble across some... maybe in NYC or Philadelphia.

There are now distribution problems and it's allegedly no longer being imported. I used to be able to get it at a couple of different bottle shops in the DC area, but it's vanished from my local one and I haven't checked the others.

And yes, it's goooooooooooooood. If you can't get that, Rochefort 8 or 10 makes a lovely substitute.

You should have no troubles findy Westy in either of those 2 cities. At Monks Cafe in Phila fo sho.

I lived in Philly all my life and never went to Monks Cafe. of course now I kick myself over it all the time. Philly really does have some great spots for beer lovers.... Khyber pass, Monk's, Grey Lodge... Those places are gems and not all cities have them. Enjoy them while you are there

That is true, and accounts for some of the kudos -- it isn't quite the best beer in the world, but is certainly very good. Rochefort 10 and Chimay Bleue are close rivals (especially when aged).

Don't know - as I understand the monks only want their beer sold at the monastery/the cafe nearby. Guessing then that any Westvleteren you see in the States was gotten by dubious means.

Well, not *that* dubious. It was bought at the monastery outlet, but at the monastery's retail price, then shipped overseas by a private party to an importer. Tack on all the usual markups, and it's pretty obvious why it's rather expensive at retail. Of course, the monastery itself might not be so pleased, and they're not bound to honor any deliveries to this importer, so if supplies dry up for a while, well, that's life.

Now, if you want to talk about Rochefort and what might be coming later this year ... that's different. Not gonna talk about that for time being. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture, no sir.

You TEASE!

:-)

-- it isn't quite

What then is the best beer in the world? I had a 2 yr old Chimay Blue once and nothing else has come near that. mick

In Brussels at the Bier Temple a couple of blocks off the Great Square-the exact name slips my mind even though I was there last year-one can get Westvlelen 12.It comes in a label free bottle with a green cap.I don't know if they ship from Brussels or perhaps you know someone heading that way.It's good, as is Rochefort but being a homebrewer,I feel I can come close to making it myself. Contact some of the local homebrewers where you live and you might be surprised what good product they are making

"hankB" schreef in bericht news:1dq0e.5992$Z37.3687@lakeread06...

No, it doesn't. The WESTVLETEREN "12 Abt" comes in bottles with a yellow-coloured cap. The green caps are the Blond, that hasn't existed for

10 years yet, and came in exchange for the "6" that sported dark red caps. In between is the "8 Extra" with light blue caps. I have every respect for a dedicated homebrewer and his products - and I know they can be very good. But if you think you can come close to the Westvleteren 12 or the Rochefort 10, then you are a magician. Or very young.

Joris

I may be mistaken about the bottle cap color since I brought a lot of different beer home (delirium tremens was a big hit) but was NOT mistaken about the beer shop nor the fact that I was there in 2004,not "ten years ago".If you have been to the Dixie Cup Competition in Houston (1000+ entries),you can appreciate the variety , skill and product possible in homebrewing today with water analysis/augmentation and yeast selections....but that is another issue.My intent was to give the original poster some help in obtaining a certain type of beer. Other possibilities for obtaining EXCELLENT Trappist/Abbey style beer- The big beer fests in. Chicago and in Denver feature a tremendous-overwhelming variety of microbrew products The craftbrewers meet at different locations...one year I was able to volumteer and get into the show.Displays from all over the world and beer samples from everywhere

BTW,I see your address to be "be" -what an interesting place Belgium is,especially for someone like me who loves chocolate,mussels and unusual beer.

Heh. Indeed.

It's not bad in some respects, hehe. Personally I prefer the mussels and the beer. I'm not as keen as Fred Eckhardt on the chocolate.

As I said, I do respect the homebrewer - the kind that is never satisfied and always wants to better himself - or his product, rather. I'm somewhat less keen on the competitions, as they saddled the beerworld up with these BJCP-straightjacket rules. I suppose they have their merits for this kind of thing. As for coming to the convention you mention, I would prefer GABF, despite the small measures. But it's not exactly next door. Cheers, Joris

I hear people say things like that, but I'm dubious. Do you really think a relatively small number of homebrew geeks who participate in amateur competitions has that much effect on commercial brewing?

That is not quite what I meant. Especially in the USA, one is seldom taken seriously by the beerloving community unless one has qualified for those sometimes dubious ex cathedra rules. And having studied them, I can assure you some of the rules in there are taken for granted by most of the specialists, even. I have been corresponding recently with a very famous beerwriter in your country about certain Belgian "styles", and some of my opinions and tidbits shocked him to the core... Another thing is that many brewers in microbreweries have started life as enthusiast homebrewers, before some of them went to Siebel. But that commercial brewing, both on micro as on (inter)national scale, goes on with or without them, no discussion about that. Cheers, Joris

Yes, because of the influence of Charlie Papazian on the GABF judging. GABF has definitely had a huge effect on commercial craft brewing, I don't think you can deny that.