Trading for Westvleteren 12

The whale that once was.

It used to be ridiculously hard to get and held the top spot for quite a long time.
A year or two ago there was a special release and it was available in most of the US, as a 6 pack, albeit expensive.
My guess is a lot of people tried it and decided they preferred stouts or IPAs or... Belgian quads are delicious and this is arguably the best of them but they are heavy to drink.

I wouldn´t think there are a lot of loose bottles still about but you never know with hoarders.
Stick up an ISO and see what happens. If that doesn´t work you can always consider an international trade.
Westvleteren is not too hard to find here. If nobody takes you up on it BM me and I´ll try and sort you out (after I get through my current list of trades).

 

FYI that you can order it online quite easily, although it is expensive (as compared to the abbey) and you'll need to foot the bill for int'l shipping on top of that. Some combo of Westy and lambics from an online store in Belgium could make it all worth your while.

 

I really think if you post the bottles you listed above FT that someone would take you up on it. This is just anecdotal evidence, but I've seen people offer up Westy reasonably for similar brews. In terms of ratio - 2 BCBS per Westy, or 3 Pliny? 1 BCBS + 1 Pliny per Westy? I'm guessing if you offered $12-15 of decent beer per bottle you'd be good.

 

That's pretty much what I've seen as well.

That may be part of it, but I think at this point enough people have had it or seen it compared to Rochefort and St Bernardus that the effort and cost is more than the payoff. It's a fantastic beer, but I can just go to the store and buy some Abt 12 and be nearly as pleased for less than what a trade for Westy 12 would cost me in time and money.

 

Pardon my n00b, but has anyone noticed a difference from the US special release that @sunnrider is referring to and bottles you can pick up at the abbey?

 

Nope, I tried them side by side and we forgot which glass was which. You can taste the difference in an older cellered bottle though.


Here´s a coincidence, a shop in Barcelona just posted today´s delivery:

 

Thanks! I shared a bottle a while back with my dad before either of us were really into craft beer. It would be interesting to revisit

 

I traded a Parabola 1:1 for it. It was definitely wonderful, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. I also got a bottle at a bar in Toronto last fall ($25, I want to sasay) Not sure where theirs would have come from.

 

I'm sorry, but if only these kind of options land Westvleteren, International trading would definitely be an option you should consider. 2-3 westvleteren vs 2 BCBS would still be considered a generous offer on this side of the ocean, or 2 westvleteren for 1 Parabola would be an VERY royal offer from Europe perspective. Shipping costs would be quite high of course, but you should have no problems landing a decent number of bottles, for far less beer than in the US. And you could always use some bottles to win back beer you gave up in the trade.

 

In the states we keep a judo grip on our Belgium products. You are 100% correct sir!

 

I was about to say this myself, before going with an international retailer try trading internationally; you'll end up spending about the same on beer and shipping, but this will make someone overseas very happy for getting to try what are (to us in the states) pretty easy to obtain beers that they'd never see.

 

LOL. Indeed!

 

This is the exact same trade I made couple years ago.

 

I did 2 westy 12 and a westy 8 for parabola, bcbcs 2011, and bbpt5 almost 2 years ago. It was my first trade ever, and looking back, I definitely think he was being generous. Cheers to him!

 

Interesting... I thought Westy's were done, but not so I guess.
Hit me up if you want to work something out, I should still have a couple properly aged ones (4 years old), 8 and 12.
I could do some BCBS or Pliny for some 12.

 

i feel like this is scarcity over a great beer. don't get me wrong it was good, but when the feeling of achievement of landing this beer (either finding it or trading for it) is greater than the actual tasting an of the beer, i say it was/is over-rated or too hyped up.

 

There are small Canadian shipments of Westvleteren beers pretty regularly. There's a group of bottle shops in British Columbia that broker deals with the monks.

 

Beer is so awesome.