Westvleteren: US release VS. abbey version

that's $2 cheaper than it is here in SoCal. +1 for NY.

 

I didn't know there was a difference in the 2 releases. I ordered the Westy 12 a few years ago because I wanted to taste the "best beer in the world" and thought it was great but I didn't try the US release. Maybe the "inferior" US release lower the score?

 

When I read the title, I had a feeling the OP would be something like "the recently imported Westy is not as good as the Westy in Belgium".

They clearly sent the swill to the USA. Monks are known to be scam artists.

In other news, Guinness tastes better in Ireland.

 

I have been to the Abbey twice this year, both times the version served at the store is so much smoother and more mellow compared to the bottled version purchased. It boils down to age, imo. I am letting the case I brought back, sit for at least 6 months before popping a top on one. ABT 12 same as Westy. Rochefort 10 bought in Belgium, tastes better than those purchased in the states. Hint of skunk comes to mind, possibly due to poor shipping times or methods.

 

Here we are in another example of how this once knowledgeable site has become a quagmire of misinformation.

To begin with the bricks weren't created just as a 'US release version' but they were being offered more widely (ie a rare example when the Westvleteren monks OKed sales off site) in general to help fund building work at the abbey. The 'bricks', right down to the packaging, gave a nod as to how the profits would be spent.

The 12 (or Abt or yellow cap) has been around for 73 years now which means it predates the whole 'quad' thing by 51 years. To rate it against other beers from this supposed style is really missing the point. Its not a competition.

As for the OP's disappointment, fresh Westvleteren 12 is a relatively raw and volatile beer, unlike many supposed cellarable beers, really requires some bottle aging. And within that time frame the beers evolves rather dramatically. One year helps, in two years it reaches it peak and thereafter the beer declines though it remains still very drinkable. It is certainly a world classic but to think that this appreciation is so reductive that its all can be diluted down to one world stopping great beer above all others is the antithesis of appreciation and advocacy.

 

Side note: This can be extrapolated for almost all limited release beers.

 

You have to develope a taste for rareness.