A Trappist Throwdown

 So what does this Beer Dad do on a random Thursday evening after the kids go to bed? Have a Belgian Quad throwdown! Why not? It seemed like the appropriate time to finally open up one of my 2008 vintage Trappist Westvletern 12 bottles that I've been longingly admiring in my beer cellar for over a year now. It's the only one of the three seen above that I have yet to try. Just like how the band Phish can break out a cover of the entire Pink Floyd "Dark Side of The Moon" album on a random Monday night in Utah, you never know when I might open something special. 

Okay, so I seem to do this on a daily basis but that is beside the point and you know what I mean. Lets move on...

       The aforementioned Belgian Quads brought together for this throwdown are what the majority of beer geeks would perceive as the trinity of the Trappist Ale. Two of the beers, which are readily available in most beer shops across the country, are the Rochefort 10 and St. Bernardus Abt 12. The Westvleteren 12, or also known as Westy 12, is only available in Belgium at the monastery where it is brewed and also at the cafe/visitor's center across the way from the abbey. These days, with the ever-growing beer trading community, auction sites, or with networking, this once elusive brew can be found with a bit of work.

It's a very unique and fascinating story about Westvleteren and one I highly recommend reading about if you so choose. Either Google it or you can just click here. You're welcome....

     Now, lets move on to the beers at hand and get this throwdown under way! Shall we?

The Rochefort and Westy both opened nicely with a slight hiss, but I immediately ran into problems with the St. Bernardus as this one began to gush on me. It would prove rather unfortunate.

In my previous experiences with this beer, I've never had one gush on me before so this was a surprise. Go figure.

I just had to pour some of the beer into a glass and wait for the carbonation to die down. Nothing to see here....move along.


So after a vigorous pour into each glass, here are the three beers poured and ready for consumption. Oooohhhhh aaaahhhhh.....

While the appearance and color of the three were fairly similar, the head on each were quite different. The Rochefort had a fluffy and airy quality to it. The Westy was slightly minimal compared to the Rochefort with smaller bubbles, and the St. Bernardus was still active and bubbling, but not as pleasant to the eye as the other two. Why any of this matters I haven't a clue, but the visual truly adds to the overall visceral experience of drinking a beer. At least for me it does....



TASTING NOTES:

St. Bernardus Abt 12 - 10% abv

Appearance is a rich, dark caramel color. 

Nose is almost an off-flavor and a liquid soap odor or detergent like smell is detected. 

Taste is a sweet and malty caramel richness with hints of figs, some dark fruitiness, spices, and a tinge of baked bread. Not much alcohol noticed and a good clean finish. 

Mouthfeel is tingly from the carbonation and a bit thin but seemed to have more body to it as the beer warmed. 

Overall a smooth drinker and one I need to revisit soon to see if perhaps it was just me or possibly a bad bottle. It didn't seem to be as good as I remember.

Trappist Westvleteren 12 - 10.2% abv

Appearance is a cloudy and murky light caramel color. 

Nose really didn't give off too much, surprisingly, and had a hint of a medicinal quality to it.

Taste was of bread, touch of caramel, some figs, and most noticeably a gingerbread spiced finish. The alcohol  heat is also prominent. 

Mouthfeel is syrupy and smooth and has a heft to it probably from the booziness I was picking up. A very good body to it and leaves a nice rich coating inside my mouth. 

Overall an excellent sipper that is very warming and well balanced. Smooth and rich with a nice spiced sweet finish.

Trappistes Rochefort 10 - 11.3% abv

Appearance is a dark, rich caramel color with an extra depth to its look.

Nose is a sweet boozy gingerbread with a hint of medicinal burn. 

Taste is a smooth, rich, and malty caramel quality. Nicely well balanced with a hint of sweet booziness to it. The finish is bold and far from lacking. The flavors just seem to get more complex as this beer warms up. Every sip just wants me want more.

Mouthfeel is superb. Full of rich maltiness and a tinge of alcohol heat really gives this one a very inviting feel and full of flavor. Luxurious comes to mind.

Overall the depth and integration of flavors in this one is divine. Extremely well done and the balance of everything stand out to me. Not too much of any one thing and goes down way too easy. 

The Verdict:

The similarities between these three are there, but each one is indeed distinct in its own right when you get down to it. Nothing bad can really be said about any of the above. They are all extremely quality brews and worthy of any so-called beer geek, but this is a throwdown so there has to be a winner. For me, the Rochefort 10 stood out and hands down is my favorite. This beer just had a depth and quality to it that really seemed to agree with me and put more of a smile on my face than the other two. 

Now, of course this tasting is all subjective and not everyone will agree with me so no reason to throw a tantrum just because the coveted Westy 12 didn't win out. Truth me told, I was expecting more and really didn't feel like it matched up to the hype. Maybe having one fresh would do it some justice. Either way it is still quite an experience to finally have the pleasure of drinking a Westy 12. This is what makes craft beer exciting to me. I love discussing why someone liked something in a particular brew that someone else might find not as enjoyable. I had a great time with this little experiment and hope you all feel the same reading this and enjoyed sharing in my experience. Have you done this before? Do you plan on doing this now? Beer Dad wants to know! 

Cheers!