Similar to Westy 12?

Get a St Bernardus abt 12 asap & enjoy.

 

St. Bernardus 12 (blue label). As close as you can get.

 

Rochefort 10 is also an excellent example of the style, and readily available, but ya like the others said St. Bernadus Abt 12 is the closest you'll get to Westy 12

 

If you look at this list:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/142/

The three most frequently reviewed are easily found in PA (alsthough depending on where you live it might take a bit of driving, etc.) All have some similarities to the Westvleteren. You also should be able to find the La Trappe Quad.

In addition your local retailer should be able to order and obtain the St. Bernardus vareity case that contains 6 different beers that include the 12, 8 and 6, as well as two nice triples and a Wit bier.

 

Like stated above abt 12 but also rochefort 10. Most consider these 3 the top 3 quads in the world. Preference for one or the other is just what youpersonally prefer. Their all world class.

 

Rochefort 10 is amazing. Chimay blue label and Delirium Noctrunum are up there too.

 

De Landtsheer - Malheur 12 is closest next to Rochefort 10. Drink both, you will see the beautiful world of the BSDA category.

 

Echoing others on St Bernaduas and adding Boulevard Sixth Glass

 

Never had a Westy but St. Bernardus Abt 12 is truly an amazing beer. I much prefer it to Rochefort 10.

 

Kasteel Cuvee Du Chateau, in addition to those already suggested.

 

St. Bernardus abt 12 is very similar. Rochefort 10 is better. Chimay Blue and a growing number of non-Belgians are getting close thanks to the likes of Allagash, Boulevard, and others. I lived in Brussels for a while and drank my fair share of the big three (Westy isn't hard to find and the other two are dirt cheap compared to elsewhere in the world). Reasonable minds can disagree, but the beers aren't different enough to hunt Westy as much as people do. If you're in Western Europe, go for it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.

Cantillon, on the other hand, is worth the hunt and the hype.

 

As everyone before mentioned; St. Bernardus 12. Recipe is much alike Westvleteren 12.

Other good Belgium quads;
Rochefort 10
Struise Pannepot
Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel
Val Dieu Grand Cru
Chimay Bleu / Blue /Grand Cru / Whatever they call it on the other side of the ocean.

Famous ones I do not like;
La Trappe Quadrupel
Malheur 12

Hate it or love it;
Urthel Samaranth

If you run in to it;
Struise St. Amatus 12. Originally meant as their take on the Westy 12, although I'd prefer Amatus any day of the week.

 

Haven't had westy yet but I do like rochefort 10. I'm also a big fan of gouden carolus van de keizer Blau, if you prefer sweeter beers.

 

I see we have a struise fan above me as well. big fan of the Amatus although the examples I have found in the USA have been poorly handled/oxidized I think. I loved it while I was in Belgium.


People like to freak out about westy, as I did while I was drinking it in the monastery cafe in Belgium, but I think I may actually prefer St Bernardus 12... easier to get and Bernardus always tastes the same to me where the few Westys I've had were more varied in terms of quality and carbonation.

My 2 cents...


Brian

 

The absolute truth. Westvleteren's quality is not always stunning. Almost every batch has it's own twang. St. Bernardus manages to have a constant quality, probably because of the (much) larger volume per batch.

A shame to read about those oxidized St. Amatus.. I still have some Vintage 2011 and 2010 left, which are great, never had a bad sample. 2012 vintage batch is not as good as the 2 before, but could win some quality when proper aged for a year (or 2).

 

St. Bernardus Abt. 12 is very similar to Westy. They originated from the same recipe.

 

Struise is my favorite brewery but a lot of what makes it to my area is not a good example. The stuff I had in Belgium was always spot on. It stinks paying $13 (10 euros) for a small pour of badly oxidized or oddly metallic tasting pannepot or black albert). I remember going to brussels and a bar had probably 8 different Struise options and I ended up drinking them all and missing my train to Bruges. After going to Bruges on a later trip it turns out the Struise hangover was more fun than the city haha.

 

Abt 12 is the best quad made IMO.