Category Archives: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij Westvleteren)

Trappist Westvleteren 12

Brewery: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij Westvleteren)
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.2%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: Gold cap. Trappist beer

Brewer Description: Not much info on their website and obviously even less on the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a cap date (bottled +3 years) of 1st September 2019. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: After a careful pour to leave most of the yeast in the bottle, a clear brown colour with a copper red hue and a just over one finger off white head that had great retention, but eventually settled to a very nice self replenishing cap while leaving great lacing around the glass.
Aroma: Strong fruitiness, apple, plum, dates, fig, toffee with light clove and banana notes.
Taste: Sweet, plum, dates, fig, banana bread, toffee, yeast and a touch of spice.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’m not a huge fan of sweetness, and this definitely leans on the sweet side, perhaps overly so for me. I prefer both Rochefort 10 and St. Bernardus Abt 12 over this. It’s still good, and not by any means bad, but if I had to pick a special Westvleteren beer, it would definitely be a fresh bottle of the Westvleteren Blond, as that is just one of the best Belgian Pale Ale’s ever.

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Trappist Westvleteren 8

Brewery: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij Westvleteren)
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Other Notes: Blue cap. Trappist beer

Brewer Description: Not much info on their website and obviously even less on the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a sell-by date that has unfortunately rubbed off. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark brown colour with some small sediment bits despite a careful pour. There was a one finger beige head that had pretty good retention and eventually settled to a nice thin but puffy cap and nice curtain like lacing.
Aroma: Strong dark fruits of plum, prunes, raisin, fig with hints of dark cherry and toffee.
Taste: Like the aroma, there is lots of dark fruit with raisin, dark cherry and prunes dominating. There’s also some plum, fig, brown sugar and a touch of alcohol that’s not overpowering.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It’s a very nice Dubbel. Great dark fruit flavours and very balanced. Interestingly though, after trying both many times, I am still leaning towards enjoying Westmalle Dubbel just that slight bit more.

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Trappist Westvleteren Blond

Brewery: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij Westvleteren)
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.8%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
Other Notes: Green cap. Trappist beer

Brewer Description: Not much info on their website and obviously even less on the bottle. But apparently this was the basic beer that the monks drink themselves. I think it replaced the Westvleteren 6, a Belgian Dark Ale with a red bottle cap and 6.2% abv.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a minimum sell-by date of 29th October 2016 and poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a small amount of sediment and a nice puffy two finger white head with good retention and leaves great lacing. Actually, despite the sediment, this looks amazing.
Aroma: Bready, clove and banana with a hint of peppery spice and apple pie.
Taste: Strong breadiness but with clove and banana sweetness and a hint of bubblegum.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow. Actually this surprised me as its often overshadowed by the 12 and even 8, but I really enjoyed this. As a Belgian Pale Ale, it seems to be one of the best of its style and has great balance, very refreshing and easy to drink.

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