[bluesman]

I would buy it..."one time", just so I can see what all the hoopla is about, but after that..."forget it".

I'll make a clone version to satisfy my desire after that. 

[tschmidlin]

At one time I had 72 bottles of Westy 12 in my cellar.  We called ahead reserved a pickup time and drove away with 3 cases of Westy 12 for just under $150.  We estimated that it cost us $6/bottle to bring them back to the US if you included the car rental and checked baggage fees.  We have drank, traded or given away about half of the bottles. 

It is a good beer, but not worth all of the hype.  I do enjoy cracking one open every now and then, sharing it with my brother who was on the trip with me and my wife who is still jealous she was not able to go on the trip with us.  Just a reminder of a great vacation in a grand location.  It makes the beer priceless to me.

I concur with kylekohlmorgen, put that money toward a plane ticket...

Thanks again for the bottles Mike

[kraftwerk]

Nope. My buddy brought me a bottle of Westy blonde a couple years ago. Must say it was damn good! That being said, I think I'll just wait until I make my first pilgrimage to Belgium to have it again.

[gordonstrong]

I've had the beer a dozen or so times.  When it's on, it's a contender for best beer in the world.  Seriously, it's that good.  However, it seems to be quite fragile, and is often not at its best.  If you look at the bottle and see floating flakes, put it back.  It will be oxidized and off.  Check the date on the cap.  If it's less than 2 years old, cellar it.  Nothing worse than buying the best beer in the world and then drinking it too young.  You don't drink Chateau Latour like it's Beaujolais Nouveau, do you?  If you go to the cafe next to the brewery, they often serve it very very young -- disappointing.  I had the 8 there and it was wicked hot; looked at the cap and saw it was a month old, duh.

So if you understand the risks, go for it.  Also understand that if it's lame, it's not the same beer that people are raving about.  In the US, Anchor Steam is kind of the same way.  Its quality seems to decrease exponentially with the distance from the brewery.

And yes, save money for a plane ticket.  Belgium is worth it.  If you appreciate Belgian beer styles at all, it's a must do.  Can't wait for my next trip.

[MDixon]

Today was (is) the day. In this blog post are the list of stores who have the beer:
https://mashbang.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/12-12-12/

This is what my backseat looked like at 9:06am this morning.

[Pinski]

Well, my backseat will look similarly around 6 PM this evening.  Like Ron said, I just have to know for myself. I'm very anxious to see the condition of the bottles.   

[MDixon]

Two of the three Raleigh area stores in NC were sold out within 5 hours. The reports are there were no massive lines or anything, just continual transactions till it was all gone.

[jeffy]

I had a buddy pick up a box for me late this morning.  From what I understand they sold all 85 boxes, at $85.00, before noon today at Total Wine in Tampa.
We shared a bottle late this afternoon in the new glasses.  Nice beer - lots of dark fruit esters (plums and raisins) and brown sugar flavors, some alcohol bitterness.  I am happy to save the other five bottles in my closet.

[erockrph]

My Westy XII story:

The closest place to me selling it is over an hour away. However, a close friend of mine works 10 minutes away from there and by serendipity we had dinner plans last night. She got to the store 20 minutes after it went on sale and got one of the last 3 boxes. Go me!

Flash forward a few hours. I get home from dinner and set the box on the kitchen table to take a picture for bragging on Facebook. My wife, who is laying down on the couch watching TV, sees the flash and asks "What are you taking a picture of?" I reply, "just some beer Lynn picked up for me before she drove down". My wife's head then snapped up with a look of horror as she saw the box on the table. She spent all night while I was out tracking this beer down. Her sister-in-law in Colorado was going to wait in line for the beer to go on sale today, and ship it to my wife to give to me for Xmas.

I felt horrible, since it was sheer dumb luck that I was able to track this down. This would have been the absolute perfect Xmas gift for me, and I'm really hard to buy for. I told her how awesome she was for trying to pull that off, but she's still pretty bummed.

The worst part was that we went out to Indian for dinner, so my palate is blown for the next day or so. I'm jonesing to try the beer, but I'm going to wait until curry is no longer seeping from my pores...

[bwana]

I will be happy to buy your extra six.

[thebigbaker]

Just out of curiosity, I checked eBay for it and people are listing it up to $600, with the highest bids coming in around $365!

[MDixon]

There is some douche on there listing four of the bricks for $1800. And yes, if that is any homebrewer who has that listing, I called you a douche!

What is funny is people bidding on the empty cardboard.

[jeffy]

There is some douche on there listing four of the bricks for $1800. And yes, if that is any homebrewer who has that listing, I called you a douche!

What is funny is people bidding on the empty cardboard.

Really?  People would pay for the box?  Should I put it on ebay?

[phillamb168]

Meh. Sorry, but the beer ain't worth that much. I got the 6-pack a few months ago, had one bottle and gave another away. I still have 4. They're down in the cellar with the crappy beer that will never get drank.

You're welcome to bring me lots of great American craft beer to trade for them, if you want.

[erockrph]

I will be happy to buy your extra six.

We were able to stop my sister-in-law before she went to buy it. I think it would be bad beer karma to hoard an extra brick of this.