Does all W12 have the ridge around the bottle? Some bottles that people post don't seem to have the ridge and I'm not sure if they're fake or not.
Nope, I received two bottles from Thjis, the main man when it comes to all things Westy. One bottle had a ridge that was engraved with "Trappisten" and the other was just a smooth bottle. They both had the yellow caps marking them as Westy 12. In short, if your unsure, send them to me for analysis
So what is the distinction as to why some bottles have it and some bottles don't? All the bottles that I've seen come from the brewery had the ridge.
In Belgium they still use returnable bottles. Westmalle buys and uses the ridged bottles. Prior to reuse, smooth and ridged bottles get mixed together at the collection point. At St. Sixtus the smooth bottles and the ridged bottles arrive all mixed together and the monks don't bother to sort the bottles or to pull the ridged ones from the process of washing and reuse.
The ring bottles are only used bij Westmalle and Westvleteren. The ones without a ring are standard bottles, Struise uses the same type..... Thijs
Meeting Thijs at the monastary is on my bucket list. Bringing him one good American BA stout would be my pleasure.
