BeerNorway

Haffy and Kjetil again from the Die By The Beer blog, back with our third and last guest review for BeerNorway (for now). The challenge to taste the best beer in the world is not a challenge we take on easily. Before this one we had a Rochefort Trappistes 10 just to try to make it harder for Westvleteren 12, that’s the kind of attitude we sport. But lets get into the beer review…

Photo by Helge & Kjetil (Die by the beer)

Looks

This beer also has a reddish brown look, it’s hazy and the foam is slightly more yellow/off-white than the Extra 8. I like it when the foam has a hint of yellow in it, gives me great associations. As I’ve said with the other Westvleteren’s, this one is also not over carbonated, which suits these beers perfectly!

Aroma

The aroma of this beer is actually less complex than that of the Extra 8, but still a lot of the same. It smells like the most awesome brew day mash ever, green apples, bread crust, candy sugar, it smells sweet and very friendly so before even tasting I know we’re gonna get along just fine!

Flavor

Ahhh, the last sniff before the first sip of what is rated by all the big beer rating sites as the best beer in the world. It’s extremely malty, and has a great taste of dark dried fruits and freshly baked bread (grandma style), a little coffee, toffee, liquorice, caramel, nuts and green apples. It’s vinous, it’s salty and very bitter, the hop profile is slightly spicy and floral and you get the great banana flavor from the yeast. What can I say? Is this love? I wish I knew what to write here, so you could understand how good this beer really is…

Finish

It leaves a tasty salty and burned bread flavor in your mouth, it’s quite dry, and the flavor just lasts and lasts. There’s also a great bitterness there at the end and it’s still there even after the other flavors have disappeared. But the flavors don’t go away fast, cause it lingers and it lingers, and the alcohol from this beer numbs your mouth as you move your tongue around in it searching for new flavors. Yummy!

Rating

Before rating this beer a thanks have to be handed out to John Åge Wee who works at Cardinal, the best beer bar in Norway who brought these beers to us all the way from Belgium.

If you ever get the chance to drink this beer, take it! Doesn’t matter how, even if you have to steal it, it’s that awesome! Then take your time, make sure you temper it right and have a great glass for smelling it’s awesomeness, then just enjoy, search for the flavors, feel it’s burn, enjoy the power of an supremely great and balanced beer! This brew is at 10.2% ABV so there’s no reason to rush it down the throat! Savour it! Treasure this beer as if it were your last…

Westvleteren 12, the best beer in the world? I don’t know! But it’s definitively up there, best Belgian beer I’ve ever tasted, hands down! No competition, and that’s saying a lot! Now where is my monk robe?

Score: 5/5

Haffy & Kjetil from the Die By The Beer blog with another guest review here at BeerNorway. We got another excellent beer from Westvleteren. This time we’re going for their Extra 8, which is their dubbel. This is a nice warmer beer with its 8% ABV, something nice for the monks to drink when it’s party time, or when they sit down and chill out in front of the fireplace.

Photo by Helge & Kjetil (Die by the beer)

This is a reddish brown hazy beer with an off white head. It looks like water from a highly toxic and polluted river like many other dubbels. This one like the Blonde is also easy on the carbonation side.

Aroma

There’s no doubt this is a complex beer when you inhale its awesome aromas. The aroma also changes massively as the beer gets warmer. If you’ve ever been to a brewery or made beer at home you will recognise the awesome smell of mash. It’s vinous with notes of nuts, dark berries, caramel and candy sugar.

Flavor

The alcohol level comes through in this beer, but it’s not a bad thing. The taste of honey, raisins, figs, caramel, some chocolate, green apples and unripe bananas comes through, this is a very complex beer. This is one malty mother, and I really like the burned taste that reminds me of the crust from grandma’s fresh home made oven-baked breads. Later when the beer gets more temperature the candy sugar taste gets stronger, but this is far from as sweet as many dubbels out there.

Finish

This beer also packs a good bitter punch, and in the long almost never ending aftertaste you can feel the earthy, spiced bitterness. You just end up sitting around licking yourself on the inside of your mouth for a long time, cause there’s just so much to discover with this beer. The bread crust, the green apples, they’re all in there, alive in your taste buds long after you’ve taken the last sip.

Rating

This is one excellent beer that really requires time, not a beer to drink if you’re in a hurry. But if you take your time you will be rewarded with a great(er) tasting experience. I’d spend a weekend in the monastery for this one, and hopefully do some spying for the recipe and the tricks of the trade.

Score: 4.9/5

Hello, this is Haffy & Kjetil from Die By The Beer Blog. When Christer invited folks on Facebook to do guest reviews and we happened to be drinking some very special brews the same night, we thought why the heck not. Westvleteren just happens to be some kind of a Holy Grail for many beer lovers, as they make what many rates as the best beer in the world, and it’s not exactly easy to get hold of either. Lets start with the “Blond”…

Photo by Helge & Kjetil (Die by the beer)

Looks

Yellow, very yellow, I would say super yellow, hazy and so cloudy you can’t see your fingers on the other side of the glass. This beer has a clear white head, not a big one, which revealed that the beer is not as carbonated like many of its Belgian competitors.

Aroma

The smell of this beer is fresh and floral. You can smell the citrus fruit and the yeast, a slight herbal note also, it smells very nice to say the least.

Flavor

Lemongrass is all over this one, I would say this is an awesome lawnmower brew for monks. Nice bitterness, lemon, kiwi, cantaloupe, very balanced. You taste the yeast but it’s not dominating the beer.

Finish

The bitterness of this beer just lasts and lasts, it’s really nice, lemony with hints of honey.

Rating

This is a beautiful beer, this is the beer the monks drink themselves (every day) and I understand that it might help recruitment at the monastery. But I wouldn’t put on a robe just yet. Even though this 5.8% ABV Blonde is quite awesome!

Score: 4.6/5