Taste Testing Belgium’s Most Sought-After Trappist Ale

Taste Testing Belgium’s Most Sought-After Trappist Ale – and Its Easily Available Alternatives The world-famous Westvleteren 12 is delicious, no doubt about it. But is it really that much better than the competition? In craft beer circles, it’s practically legendary: an intensely boozy, powerfully flavorful, and incredibly rare Belgian quad called Westvleteren 12 (aka Westy 12). It’s one of a few different beers made by reclusive Trappist monks at the St. Sixtus monastery in rural Belgium, true to the region’s centuries-old brewing tradition. To buy it these days, you’ve got to call the brewery over and over for hours through a line that’s practically always busy. If you’re lucky enough to get connected, you make an...