In some breaking news, Onbeer.org has learned that Alberta will be one of the rare recipients of a one-time only shipment of Westvleteren Trappist beer. The beer produced at the Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren is the rarest of the seven Trappist monasteries and has become among the highest valued beer on the planet (in part due to its rarity). Westvleteren is the most traditional of the Trappist Abbeys, being the only one where the monks are the primary brewers. Plus, in a quirk I quite appreciate, they do not label the bottles (and haven’t since 1945) – all the required legal information is on the cap. It makes the bottles look wonderfully elegant.
Normally Westvleteren can only be purchased directly at the Abbey and to individuals only through advance booking. However, they are currently working on an extensive renovation to the brewery and decided to quietly run an auction to sell additional production around the world to raise capital to finance construction. One distributor got the rights for Canada, and Alberta has been allotted a significant portion of that order (rumours have it Ontario will get the rest).
This is what we will get: gift six-packs of Westvleteren 12 – their strongest offering – complete with 2 branded glasses. So, sorry, no single bottles, but maybe a group of you can combine to buy a pack, just like Oilers season’s tickets. Initial estimates put the pack at around $65-70.
There is some speculation that demand may outstrip supply, so Sherbrooke Liquor, who will get the largest portion t, is planning a system of pre-ordering to guarantee purchases for those with advance planning skills – with a $50 deposit. I have my order in already. I am not sure what other stores slated to receive some of the beer (and at this point I am not sure who that is) are planning on doing with their allotment.
For those of you less familiar with Westvleteren, trust me when I suggest that this is a pretty big deal. Their beer are hard to find, given their limited production (they produce less than 5,000 hectolitres, which is smaller than Alley Kat and Wildrose) and determination to keep control of distribution. I own a bottle each of their 8 and 12, which I admit I procured while in Belgium on the grey market, plus I have had a couple of bottles of their lighter Blonde (which was wonderful). This may demonstrate how hard it is to find.
Plus, their beer are some of the finest examples of Belgian-style ales in the world. This statement is contested by many who think the brewery is over-rated. I personally, as a lover of all the Trappist monasteries, am not going to get in the middle of that debate. What I know is that they are well made beer and they are worth the extra bit of cash needed to procure them.
But, here is where I put the brakes on your excitement. The Alberta shipment won’t arrive until next fall, likely November. Yes, more than a year. The beer hasn’t even been made yet. So relax, have another beer and casually approach Jim at Sherbrooke (or the good folks at Little Guy in Sherwood Park or your local quality beer store) over the next few weeks to arrange for your share. And then wait.
I suggest a good strategy to bide your time is to buy the other Trappist beer and work your way through them. Then by the time the West-V arrives, you will have a good handle on what the others taste like, and you can offer an authoritative opinion on which is better. When the time comes I plan on starting a long discussion on the relative merits of each!
So, that is the news. For now stand down, and keep watching onbeer.org for updates (if I can be allowed a quick personal plug).
October 16, 2011 at 8:39 AM
Nice work by Horizon Wines and I am sure lots of people will plunk down a deposit on. It is pretty cool for glass collectors that you get Westy glasses with the pack! Sadly it is just the 12 we are getting and the blonde is hands down the best of the bunch.
Although a first for Alberta a couple months ago British Columbia got a small shipment of Westys and Ontario regularly gets small amounts through legit importers. With this Alberta order it seems that rarity is becoming less of an issue.
There will be another 4 pack of aged Westy’s on the silent auction table at the Camra Burn Unit Fundraiser next year before this order hits here for next year (this will be the fourth year we have done this). Unfortunately I only have one 12 left in the cellar and it will probably be all 8s this year unlike past years where it has been 2 12s and 2 8s. Not procured grey market and sold with 100% of the profits going to charily as the monks would want it.
Not a fan of the 8’s and 12’s. Although some grain is used they are basically extract brewers that use Westmalle’s yeast and all colour in the beers is not from character grain it is from Belgian candy sugar. The Blonde is the best of the bunch and a couple weeks ago we did a blind taste test of Dieu du Ciel’s Dernière Volonté against the blonde and in was unanimous the Dernière Volonté was better. Since it is only the 12 quad in the shipment or those haven’t had the beer this will be fun. Warm up with lots of the much better Rochefort 10, St Bernardus Abt 12 or for a Canadian example for those Sherbrooke shoppers the two year old Dieu du Ciel Rigor Mortis. For a fun excerise do a blind comparison with all when the Westy’s hit the market. I have led a blind taste test to a bunch of homebrewers at Bushwakker’s a couple years ago and been part of blind quad tastings This definitely a fun and exercise,rarity has rarely won.
October 16, 2011 at 3:06 PM
It will be much cheaper than what I paid for it…$200 for a 6-pack consisting of 2 bottles each of the Blonde, 8, and 12. When it arrived, we did a comparative tasting of all the Rocheforts side-by-side. They all scored high, but in the end I decided that while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t worth $33 per bottle. Now, $10-12 per bottle is a different story…thanks for the tip, I may need to explore this further…
October 17, 2011 at 11:21 AM
Just learned the glasses are 150ml each.
October 19, 2011 at 2:26 PM
So. Do they brew with extract and special belgian sugars? But the base is extract? Can anyone confirm this?
October 19, 2011 at 4:50 PM
My understanding it is that they use a traditional brewing set-up. All grain, no extract, and the addition of specialty candi sugars, expected for Trappist and Abbey ales. I don’t think there is any truth to the rumours that they use extract.
October 22, 2011 at 4:17 PM
Here is an article by a good buddy of mine that has been to the brewery a number of times and probably is the most comprehensive on the brewery. http://www.celebrator.com/archives/0504/0504inter-westvleteren.html