Westvleteren on tap? where!

Hello... Anyone know any places to sample this stuff straight from the tap? Can one still only buy this stuff bottled by prearranged visit to the brewery? Cheers

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I shall be interested to see if anyone does because I thought the only place it could be had on tap was the café at the abbey itself (St. Sixtus).

If you want to buy it from the brewery, yes it has to be by pre-arranged visit and I think you can only buy a case - but it can also be bought by the bottle elsewhere e.g. in Brussels, if they haven%26#39;t run out (supplies to resellers are also rationed): Bier Tempel in rue du Marché aux Herbes or Beermania off the beaten tourist track in Ixelles www.beermania.be/allnewbm.php…

This is not just a shop but also a bar, although it closes at 21:00 (shop closes at 20:00), it is located close to the %26quot;Parnasse%26quot; stop on the 95 bus route from Bourse, and not all that far from Trône/Porte de Namur metro stations www.beermania.be/allnewbm.php?pcon=Contact

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Thanks... I will be driving through to the ardenne area and was wondering if this beer could be bought anywhere outside of the brewery or shop next door... so not passing thru the township at all...

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Any other ideas? :)

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Actually this beer cannot be bought on tap even at the brewery tap! It is always bottled and they open it for you in the cafe and pour it out. If you are lucky enough to find it in the shop within the cafe to take away you can buy only 6 bottles per person but they don%26#39;t always have it.

Alternatively you can ring the beer phone to arrange to but a crate but they only brew at certain times.

If you do see it in cafes around Belgium (or even the Netherlands)it will be very expensive. I have seen it as much as 15 euros per bottle for the 12.

Please ask if you wnat anything more specific.

Piglet:-)

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Just an aside really but we were lucky enough to try some at a bar in Mechelen - Den Stillen Genieter - and at a very reasonable price, 3.5 or 4 euros a bottle I think

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...thanks... but the above aside... is it really any different and worth all the hassle, compared to say %26#39;Rochefort%26#39; or the other trappists? :)

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I%26#39;d say that yes it is worth trying to find some - I really like Trappist Rochefort and it has a similar %26#39;dark sweetness%26#39; to it but also an earthiness.

I have some better tasting notes at home which I will try to remember to post up over the weekend (off on a bit of a booze up this evening, though sadly not on Belgian beer!)

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Finally got round to checking our tasting notes and we had both the 8 and 10.

The 8 was dark but not bitter, sweet - but npot overly so - with chocolate/treacle flavours, very rich and satisfying.

The 10 was similar but with a deeper flavour/feel to it, indeed after the depth of the 8 it is difficult to imagine a %26#39;deeper%26#39; flavour but the 10 had it. Worth letting it just settle in your mouth a little before swallowing to really appreciate the different tones/elements in the taste (tearcle/chocolate again)

We thought that they would both be ideal to have as a dessert beer.

I would certainly recommend trying some if you can - though we were lucky to find it at a reasonable price, not sure if we would ordered if it had been at a much, much higher price.

As to whether it is the best beer in the world - I don%26#39;t think I am qualified to say but it is certainly a damn fine one!!