I had a review of the holy grail of beers - the Westvleteren 12 up the other day til blogger decided to f@#$ me around and delete the post. I haven't had the time or energy to put it up again...til now (cue eeire music). So take two - here's my ratebeer.com review...
Yes it’s a great beer. The best in the world? Debatable. It serves as the holy grail and does its job well. Poured a magnificent auburn unfiltered ruby red. A sight to behold. Nose of raisins, alcohol, toffee etc. Taste was expressive. Lots of alcohol, port, sweet dark fruit and a little coffee. mouth feel was medium to full. Left a lasting impression of alcohol and cinnamon in the mouth. Lots of yeasty sediment to this one. Glad to try it, now I can move on try a few more on my wishlist!
I have a few more so I will crack them open later for a better review. I also had a St. Bernardus ABT 12 the same night. The Berny was also very good and a little similar to the Westy. The story goes that The St.Bernard Brewery brewed Westvleteren beers for the monks up till recently. Here is the full story from 52brews.com.
"In 1946 the monks at [Westvleteren] decided to devote less time to brewing, producing a small amount a beer at their abbey (close to Watou) and contracting Saint Bernardus to [brew] the Saint Sixtus line of “Trappist” under contract from 1946 until 1992…
After Westvleteren ended the deal, Saint Bernardus continued with its own brands, extending the range and boosting production to 10,000 hectoliters (8,500 barrels) a year. Today it brews beers with no monastic influence…but still uses recipes the brewery claims haven’t changed since 1946.
Because the head brewer from Westvleteren helped set up the Saint Bernardus brewery, it seems likely he brought along the original Westvleteren yeast with the recipes. We can only guess how Saint Bernardus yeast today might have changed in sixty years. We know, of course, that Westevleteren now uses yeast acquired fresh from Westmalle each time the monks brew. "
So obviously both are great beers. There were discernible differences, such as the Westy having a more auburn colour, where as the Berny was a browny colour with better head retention. The tastes where not dissimilar, with big roasty, fruit flavours, but more like cousins than siblings. Similar profiles with notable distinctions. If I were to pick a winner it would be the Berny, just because it's 1/3 the price of the Westy and a hellava lot easier to get your hands on...just saying.
Anyone got some thoughts on these two?
I had W12 last night - will be writing about it later today. Yet to pick up StB12 - heard it's very similar; it will be interesting to try.
ReplyDeleteMine are waiting in my cellar. I say cellar, its actually one of those cubby holes under the kitchen floor that is inthe ground. I better check on the temp in there. I may have to move them to the fridge. Gonna taste test them soon, along wiht someother similar Belgians, to see how they allcompare. I'm not really afan of Belgian beers, but I'm willing to give these a go, seeing as the wevltetevwlevneretnt is regarded by many as the best beer in the world and the story behind the beer is really interesting. Can't taste them right now, because of my bloody tooth! Gotta wait 2 weeks before I can dig in. Bugger!
ReplyDeletedid you get round to yours yet chuwy??
ReplyDelete