"Spend your money on the
things money can buy. Spend your time on the things money can't buy."
Haruki Murakami, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle.
Thanks to a wonderful gentleman
over at The Tippling House, I have had the pleasure of getting my hands on some
Westvleteren 12, one of the most sought after beers in the entire world. A beer
that under normal circumstances would require a plane ticket to Belgium, a well
timed phone call, and a registered set of license plates as I approached the
abbey. Hell, even now it required being a preferred customer at a certain store
and getting lucky in a lottery.
Luckily, I was allowed to get my
hands on Westvleteren 12, their Quadruple Ale. The Trappist Abbey of Saint
Sixtus of Westvleteren started brewing beer in 1838, but the 2 World Wars would
make it tough on them, and Brouwerij St. Bernardus stepped up to the plate in1946
with licensing to brew beer for the Monks. But that licensing agreement ended
in 1992 and the Abbey decided to begin brewing their own beer again. Since then
Westy 12 has been called one of the best beers made in the world. And in the
years since 1992 some unforeseen circumstances arose and the Monks needed
immediate money for repairs to the monastery, so suddenly, there would be a
small amount of Westy for purchase.
As for the beer itself, Westy 12
drinks almost more like a cognac than a beer, with serious hints of raison and
apple, with wood that reminded me of delicious whiskey burn in the finish. I
was lucky enough to get 3 bottles, and I'm sitting on 2 more hoping that the
heat dies down and the richness of this beer comes out but it’s going to be
very tough to wait.
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