So I opened a Westy XII last night...

I have 6 more from that shipment, they are 3.5 years old now. The chunks are just protein sediment, no off taste. The sandy sediment that is heavier at the bottom is dead yeast, and it is nasty as hell.

I compared 3 year old St. Bernardus with this batch of Westvleteren, and they aren't very similar. The Westvleteren is drier, less estery and has a lingering hop taste still. It is vinous, has a much more controlled oxidized flavours, coming out more like wine than sherry. The Westvleteren could still go another couple years, but I think its at its peak.

The St. Bernardus tasted overripe, almost like compost. The ester profile reminded me of cheap peach flavoured wine (girls night out). The hop character was gone, it was slightly cloying and the alcohol came across solventy. These are nowhere close to being the same beers.

I would love to try Westvleteren fresh, since I would probably appreciate it for its strong hop character. Now I need my batch of Rochefort 10 to age another year to see how it holds up against Westvleteren.



PS: DO NOT pour the sediment (the malt protein is ok, NOT the yeast). It will make the beer a drain pour. This goes with Westmalle beers too. They all use the same yeast and it really kills the beer when poured in. And don't try to filter out the heavy malt sediment, just drink it. I tried about a year ago and ruined the beer.

 

Westvleteren is not very constant in quality. The batches that were produced to cover their investments in the Abbey were overall not that good, and brewed with haste. It's good to hear it aged well though.

 

I wish I could have let the few I scored straight from the Abbey age more than a couple months...I tried with all my might...but I could nearly hear the bottles calling my name from the basement. The last one fell victim this past Saturday. The only bad thing about Westy XXII is running out of it. Don't know when I'll be able to score more legit bottles.

 

Ever tried to age orval?

 

Orval becomes overly phenolic after 3 years. I prefer it fresh -> 6 months old, when it's English Bitter qualities are at the forefront, but the brett is starting to work its magic.

 

I opened a Westy XII last night to enjoy during Sunday Night Football. It's also from the six packs sent to North America a little over three years ago. No floaters/chunks in mine and I was careful to leave the sediment in the bottle. It was pretty good (probably my favorite of the five I've opened over the last few years), but not even close to what I would consider one of the best beers I've ever had. I guess I'm just not that big of a fan of the Belgians. Oh, well maybe they'll grow on me. Seven more bottles to go...

 

About a year ago some friends and I did a big quad tasting, with all the trapists (as well as a few others) at various ages. The 3 year old Westy was the winner, but just barely over the 3 year old Rochefort. Totally agree with your assessments on Westy's drier, hoppy notes, and overall found that to add a layer of complexity the Rochefort lacked. But the Rochefort drank almost akin to a brandy, with the choice adjective for everyone being "indulgent." Certainly a nice result considering how easy it is to pick up and store some Rochefort 10 bottles.

 

Definitely agree that both are needed to make a good cellar. I read that Rochefort 10 needs 5 years to come to its peak. I have never had one older than 2 years old. I have 16 in the cellar that were bottled Aug 2013, so it's just a matter of time.

 

I had a 4 year-old Orval last year, and all the brett was gone. It was very boozy; like brandy. I prefer it with a year or less.

The U.S. equivalent, Rayon Vert, was unreal after 3 years, though.

 

I don't think that Brett can be gone. It only becomes funkier with time. After 3 years it's a Brett bomb. Geuezes don't become less funky after a couple years of bottle age either.

 

Ok, well, it didn't taste like a brett beer anymore.. Absolutely no sign of it. Totally boozy.