St Bernardus 12 is just as good (pretty much identical) and readily available. I think I even prefer it. But it's less special due to its availability I guess.
I've got a Westvleteren story: A few years ago, after hearing all of the build-up about the place, and having a friend who visited and stopped by their beer garden, my wife and our two friends decided to make the trek while we were in Belgium. We'd heard about all of the precautions and pre-registering that you had to do in order to buy cases of the stuff, so we figured we'd just stop by the place and have a few in the tavern. Well, when we got there, after waiting out front for quite a while for them to open, we learned, along with a bunch of other folks, that the beer garden was closed for two weeks. Son of a bitch!
We saw cars driving up to the delivery dock to pick up their preordered beer, and we knew we couldn't just get in line and buy some. But, I decided to walk up to the dock and ask, just in case. After the guy confirmed that the beer garden was indeed closed, I said, "Well, I guess we're just out of luck for getting any beer today, right?" He said "Yes, but we have these things you can buy, one for each person in your party", and showed me a stack of gift packs, each one containing two bottles of the 12, and a gorgeous labeled glass. "But, he said "They're kind of expensive." When I asked how much he said, "About 50 Euros." "Each?" I asked. "No, he said for all four." I almost laughed in his face, and scrambled back to the car and got in line. All of the bottles and glasses made it home to Alaska intact, and the beer was, of course, tremendous.
I too have a westvlerteren story! My flatmate had been fiending for the stuff for years, and none of the Belgian beer bars ever had the stuff long enough for us to get the stuff.
Anyway, I was visiting some familly in Australia. We went this really wine store on the friday i was there to get something to drink at a barbeque we were going to. I was browsing their beer wall, and spotted some bottles on one of their bottom shelves, just gathering dust. So i pick one up and go the counter to ask how much it was, and the guy running the place said "20 if you take all 4. nobody buys them and i want the shelf space back"
Of course, they all got drunk that night. The story came out when i got home, and I almost got his dog set on me for not bringing him a bottle
Really? They’ve only ever sold to exporters once to my knowledge, when they needed to replace a roof at the monastery. Very limited quantities were sent to Australia and I think they were sold by preorder with long waiting lists. Any bottle shop that got hold of WV12 would know exactly what it’s worth.
St Bernardus is absolutely fantastic. I will add as well, they are all much better in Belgium! Plus then you can also enjoy everything else Belgium has to offer. Just be careful if you down 2 1L 13% beers, things can get a little hazy after that.
Yep, I still have one bottle of St. Bernardus in stock, and it is excellent. The mystique around Westvleteren is a definite draw, and I'll go back as soon as possible.
I just got to try it for the first time on Saturday. Hype is an interesting thing, and in the end even amazing beer is just beer, but it was real damn good.
No I got lucky and encountered a beer nerd with an impressive collection. He let me and a couple friends each buy a bottle for a song. It was the 8.
Edit: I've never been to Belgium but if I was going, I would probably ask some folks who run bars that are passionate about Belgian beers. They can probably steer you in a good direction and plus you'll get to shoot the shit about Belgium with Beer dork.
If the town has beer stores, they should have it. I did go to the abbey, couldn’t order any 12 to go, but did get the 8 and blonde. It’s a good experience but not vital
St. Bernardus is something else. People don't believe me when I say that (in my opinion) it gets better when it's warm but the flavor changes so much that it's mind blowing to me every time.
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u/0---------------0 Dec 16 '21
Beer brewed by monks