[johnf]

Keep looking. It's worth it once you get one that is good.

If you have a bottle in your hands but haven't bought it yet, I found that a good indicator of quality is whether it has noticeable floating flakes in it.  Hold it up to a light and take a look.  Not haze, not particulates -- flakes.  When a beer has that, I've found that it's gone off (some kind of oxidation, by taste). The beer will taste harsh, thin, and more bitter.  I use that approach when looking at Westmalle Dubbel and DeKoninck with success too.

I've had maybe two dozen of these beers, and maybe a handful were that amazing quality.  I had some back luck with buying the grey market beers in the US; those are mostly the ones that have been crap.  Anyone go to my talk on Belgian Dark Strongs at the AHA Conference in Chicago?  I had a case of that beer, and it had that problem.  Bought it local in Chicago at Sam's (now Binny's).

It's a fragile beer.

We get that over on this side of the pond as well. I got a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that had lots of particulate in it. Unfortunately non-drinkable. You wanna talk sad, though - I ordered a bunch of Pliny (I have a case of 9 at home for Sunday's "Hopmageddon", but I wanted to have 11 or 12)  and had a coworker order two extra because of the shop's 2-bottles-per-customer limit. Well, he got his address wrong. Bottles were marked as undeliverable and have been on their way to be 'returned to sender' for about 4 weeks now. Two bottles of uber-fresh Pliny, sitting in a hot warehouse somewhere, now that's sad.

I was at Pivovarsky Klub in Prague last year. Basically a US style brewpub (amazing how many places you'll find those now, Tokyo has a few, I think the hallmark of the US beer culture is variety almost more than hops). They had Sierra Nevada bottles and, as I did the math in my head, about $10 a bottle. No thanks. But I imagine it is quite a novelty for the locals.

[phillamb168]

Keep looking. It's worth it once you get one that is good.

If you have a bottle in your hands but haven't bought it yet, I found that a good indicator of quality is whether it has noticeable floating flakes in it.  Hold it up to a light and take a look.  Not haze, not particulates -- flakes.  When a beer has that, I've found that it's gone off (some kind of oxidation, by taste). The beer will taste harsh, thin, and more bitter.  I use that approach when looking at Westmalle Dubbel and DeKoninck with success too.

I've had maybe two dozen of these beers, and maybe a handful were that amazing quality.  I had some back luck with buying the grey market beers in the US; those are mostly the ones that have been crap.  Anyone go to my talk on Belgian Dark Strongs at the AHA Conference in Chicago?  I had a case of that beer, and it had that problem.  Bought it local in Chicago at Sam's (now Binny's).

It's a fragile beer.

We get that over on this side of the pond as well. I got a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that had lots of particulate in it. Unfortunately non-drinkable. You wanna talk sad, though - I ordered a bunch of Pliny (I have a case of 9 at home for Sunday's "Hopmageddon", but I wanted to have 11 or 12)  and had a coworker order two extra because of the shop's 2-bottles-per-customer limit. Well, he got his address wrong. Bottles were marked as undeliverable and have been on their way to be 'returned to sender' for about 4 weeks now. Two bottles of uber-fresh Pliny, sitting in a hot warehouse somewhere, now that's sad.

I was at Pivovarsky Klub in Prague last year. Basically a US style brewpub (amazing how many places you'll find those now, Tokyo has a few, I think the hallmark of the US beer culture is variety almost more than hops). They had Sierra Nevada bottles and, as I did the math in my head, about $10 a bottle. No thanks. But I imagine it is quite a novelty for the locals.

Ouch, 10 euros a bottle? I paid 6. Still not worth it.

[johnf]

I think $10 USD is about 6 Euro these days...

Prague is fairly expensive these days though, I think. My wife's parent's were stationed in Germany in the 90s while she was in school and she visited and said a beer was like 30 cents US or something. When we went last year it was like $5 for a Pilsner Urquell or whatever, $6-$7 for a pint of basically craft beer draught at Pivovarsky Klub and then $10 for a bottle of Sierra Nevada.

Viva la velvet revolution, I guess. Basically US prices. Tokyo is like US prices * 2, so no complaints.

[thomasbarnes]

IME pretty close. Part of the allure of W12 is how difficult it is to procure. If it was on the grocery store shelf on every corner of American would people still crave it? I suspect the answer is no...

I suspect you're right, but I can't say for sure because I've never had any of the Westveteran beers. I figure that any Westy beers I get in the U.S. are gray market products imported by people who care more about profit than the beer itself, so they're likely to be in poor shape.

Also, while it might be a royal pain for beer geeks, I respect St. Sixtus' decision to keep production small. Their beer, their rules. Until I find the long green needed for a trip to Belgium, I'll stick with St. Bernardus.

[uthristy]

Still very hard to find in Belgium, though.

That hasn't been true for a couple years now, pubs in Brugge,Bouillon,Antwerpen and a few bottle shops all had Westvleteren for sale. Amsterdam has a couple places to buy too.

http://www.crackedkettle.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66_69
Has some but at a huge price and don't even ask about the shipping...



http://www.beerplanet.eu/index.php?cnt=0
None for sale but they will add a bottle to your order..

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I've had enough Westvleteren 12`s to know they need a few years of aging before coming into great beer, 3yrs is just hitting its stride.


-

. If it was on the grocery store shelf on every corner of American would people still crave it? I suspect the answer is no...

That just might happen based on this old news report>
http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20101027_008

The article says that, due to the high costs of recent renovations, they are in talks with Belgian supermarket Colruyt to introduce their beer in stores throughout the country. This would be the first time that the beer is sold outside of the abbey itself (and the adjacent pub). Supplies will probably increase, even worldwide. The beer will probably be sold in a box of 3 (large?) bottles & a glass

[beer_crafter]

The problem with the the pub, In de Vrede, is that the beers are served absolutely fresh. No maturing time at all. We tried all three, and none of them were ready to be served.

I thought the Blonde was absolutely perfect that young. 

[MDixon]

It appears thirsty is right. A buddy in BE right now went to a bar where it wasn't when we tripped there many moons ago and now it's right on the menu. Figures...

[gordonstrong]

It appears thirsty is right. A buddy in BE right now went to a bar where it wasn't when we tripped there many moons ago and now it's right on the menu. Figures...

Time for another trip to Belgium.  Too bad the exchange rate sucks.

[tankdeer]

The problem with the the pub, In de Vrede, is that the beers are served absolutely fresh. No maturing time at all. We tried all three, and none of them were ready to be served.

I thought the Blonde was absolutely perfect that young. 

I agreed. Simply amazing blonde. Reminds me that I want to brew one. Nice thing about the pub though is you can still take home a 6 pack, and the food was tasty.

[oscarvan]

That hasn't been true for a couple years now, pubs in Brugge,Bouillon,Antwerpen and a few bottle shops all had Westvleteren for sale. Amsterdam has a couple places to buy too.

http://www.crackedkettle.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66_69
Has some but at a huge price and don't even ask about the shipping...

Hmmm, Raamsteeg 3 that's a stones throw from "De Zotte" may have to investigate.......

[tankdeer]

That hasn't been true for a couple years now, pubs in Brugge,Bouillon,Antwerpen and a few bottle shops all had Westvleteren for sale. Amsterdam has a couple places to buy too.

http://www.crackedkettle.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66_69
Has some but at a huge price and don't even ask about the shipping...

Hmmm, Raamsteeg 3 that's a stones throw from "De Zotte" may have to investigate.......

Cafe Golem right across the alley from Cracked Kettle has a great selection and is a nice place for a drink. Oh, and bring bottles to trade at Cracked Kettle and they'll usually hook you up.

[tyrser]

I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find some Westvleteren 12 for a wedding present?  I know that you can't "get" it here in the US, but I was just wondering if anyone had some extras......

Thanks,
hari

Where are you from? Italy here and I may be interested into trading WV for US beers 

[uthristy]

Cafe Golem right across the alley from Cracked Kettle has a great selection and is a nice place for a drink

That Golem was closed last august not sure if it opened  again.

Here is part of the beer list>

[tankdeer]

I wonder why they were closed. They were open last March.

Similar photo:

[uthristy]

They were also closed in april, asked @crakedkettle and he had no idea why it was closed.

But do you have photo like this