Westvleteren Beer Buy

In January, the Abbey started a pilot project in which the purchased beer is delivered to your home. This project is done on a small scale and is only available for delivery to registered customers who have their account address in Belgium.

westvleteren beer buy

During the next sales moment with collection of your order at the Abbey, you can purchase up to 4 crates of beer chosen from the 3 types of Trappist Westvleteren that are still available at that time, with a maximum of 2 crates per type.Questions about our services or the product?View our frequently asked questions.

After logging in you will enter a waiting room. When it's your turn you can access the web store. While waiting, you can already browse and reserve other products that we sometimes offer in addition to our Trappist beers.

The "Trappist beer" trademark is legally protected and may only be used if the production of the beer takes place within the monastery walls under the supervision of the monks. The proceeds are intended for the livelihood of the monks and for the maintenance of the monastery. The remainder is spent on development projects and works of charity.

The beer is brewed by monks at the Sint-Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren, in West Flanders, Belgium. Unlike other monasteries, Sint-Sixtus places has no commercial aspirations with their beer. They make and sell just enough to sustain their way of life.

For a significant portion of the 20th century, the Westvleteren monks contracted out their brewing. Another brewery, St. Bernardus, was founded for this purpose and used the Westvleteren ingredients and know-how to make their beer. However, in 1992, this ended because it was decided that only Trappist monks should brew Trappist beers.

St. Bernadus still exists and uses the recipes from the time they brewed Westvleteren beer to make their own beer, St. Bernardus 12. Some claim that this beer is identical to Westvleteren 12, but most agree that it is a distinct beer in the same style.

The caps contain all of the information about the beer, including the sell-by date stamped on the cap. Both the 8 and 12 can be aged, and many prefer it this way. The Westvletern monks do not recommend refrigerating their beers. Rather, these beers should be cooled in a cellar environment.

Both of us were able to get two six-packs of Westvleteren 12 in a paper box for 23 euros each (no discount for buying in bulk). We saw people with more beer (up to 24 Westvleteren 12 beers), but this is highly dependent on availability. You can reserve ahead online if you have a car that you know the license plate to.

They are very serious about the process, so if you do not follow it, you are not getting your beer. Most important, this is not possible with a car rental unless you know the license plate at the time of your reservation. They will only allow you to pick up the beer inside if the license plate matches.

I have been lucky enough to purchase cases of these wonderful beers directly from the Abbey a few years ago, but typically, this is an extremely difficult task to accomplish these days (see official instructions on the Sint-Sixtus Abbey website) and often requires quite a bit of luck. Since buying from the Abbey is so difficult, and the monks do not allow their beer to be resold by others (and when it is resold by others, it is usually with a very hefty mark-up), how can you manage to get your hands on some for yourself?

The brewery's three beers have acquired an international reputation for taste and quality; Westvleteren 12 is considered by some to be the best beer in the world.[1] The beers are not brewed to normal commercial demands but are sold in small quantities weekly from the doors of the monastery itself to individual buyers on an advance-order basis.

As with all other Trappist breweries, the beer is only sold in order to financially support the monastery and other philanthropic causes. Whilst the brewery is a business by definition (its purpose is to make money), it does not exist for pure profit motives, and they do no advertising. The monks have repeatedly stated that they only brew enough beer to run the monastery, and will make no more than they need to sell, regardless of demand. During World War II, the brewery stopped supplying wholesalers and since then they only sell to individual buyers in person at the brewery or the visitors' centre opposite. These methods all go against modern business methods; however, as stated by the Father Abbott on the opening of the new brewery, "We are not brewers. We are monks. We brew beer to be able to afford being monks."[5]

Until 1999, the brewery also produced a 6.2% ABV dark beer and a lighter 4 which served as the monks' table beer, but these were replaced by the Blonde. The 8 and 12 are bottle conditioned and are considered to have a long shelf life, with some drinkers preferring the taste when the beers have been stored for several years. The ingredients are yeast, hops, malt, sugar, caramel and water.

The bottles have been sold without labels since 1945. All of the legally required information is printed on the crown tops. Because of this lack of space, Westvleteren beers are the only Trappist beers that do not have the official Trappist logo displayed on the bottle. The logo is only printed on the distinctive wooden crates. Any bottles that are labelled have had them added unofficially by others. For example, some importers into the United States label the bottles in order to comply with local regulations.

Buyers were originally limited to ten 24-bottle crates of the beer per car, but as the beer increased in popularity, this was first reduced to five, then to three and now to two or one crates. For the Westvleteren 12 in 2009, it was limited to one case. When making an order now, the type and quantity of beer available for sale are revealed. Sales are limited to one order every 60 days per person per license plate and phone number. Also, the beer must be reserved online through the abbey's website, with registration weeks or even months before the planned pick up date. The online system has replaced the "beerphone" in 2019.[6] The monks do not sell beer to individuals who drive up to the abbey hoping to purchase beer. The reason for this is to eliminate commercial reselling, and hence give all visitors a chance to purchase the product.

Aside from the brewery itself, the only other official sale point for the beer is the abbey-owned In de Vrede,[7] a cafe and visitor's centre opposite the abbey. All beers can be bought there for immediate consumption or take-away, depending on availability (however, prices are higher than at the abbey). Often there is no beer available at the shop. The shop also sells cheeses made at the abbey, yeast tabs (not yeast to make beer but dead yeast for health) and other Trappist products.

Buyers of the beer receive a receipt with Niet verder verkopen ("Do not resell") printed on it. The abbey is very much against resale of their beer, and it is their wish that the beer is only commercially available at the two abbey-owned official sale points. Therefore, any Westvleteren beer offered for sale anywhere else in the world is a grey- or black market item, as there are no wholesalers in existence that supply the beer. The abbey is actively working to eliminate the illicit sales,[6] and generally only agrees to media interviews to spread their message against drinking illicitly sold Westvleteren beer.[8]

On November 4, 2011, it was announced that 7760 gift packs (each containing 6 bottles of Westvleteren 12 and 2 glasses) would be imported by US-based Shelton Brothers, starting in April 2012.[10] During a Shelton Brothers beer festival in June 2012, the gift packs were then made available to attendees at the price of $85.[11] The original arrangement also listed Manneken-Brussels Imports Austin, Texas, as an additional distributor for the western states, but the Manneken-Brussels deal fell through in May 2012.[12]

In June 2005, when Westvleteren 12 was again highlighted as "Best Beer in the World", news organizations followed this up and articles appeared in the international press, highlighting the beer ranking and the unusual business policies. In 2014 it was rated best beer in the world by Ratebeer.com.

Following these events, interest in Westvleteren's output increased and stories appeared of the abbey's stock being low, forcing the monks to reduce the amount of beer sold to each customer. In an interview, monk Mark Bode explained that the abbey had no intention of increasing its production, despite demand: "We make the beer to live but we do not live for beer."[4]

Despite the popularity, the monks of St Sixtus have continued to decline almost all interview and visit requests, and have not enjoyed all of the attention they have received. Non-monastic visitors to the abbey are usually turned away, instead being directed to the visitor's centre opposite where there is information about the abbey and brewery. They have stated their desire to only produce as much beer as needed to finance the community.[4]

Buy Westvleteren 12 beer Online. The famous Belgian Trappist beer has been awarded several times the title of 'Best Beer in the World'. Three different beers are brewed in the Sint Sixtus abbey: the Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap), Wesvleteren 8 (Blue cap) and Westvleteren 6 Blond (green cap). The abbey is located in the municipality of Vleteren. The three beers are produced and sold in small quantities. Due to their international reputation, the demand is much bigger than the production, that is why these beers are so difficult to buy.You can keep the Westvleteren 12 & 8 for years if you store them vertically in a dark place, at temperatures between 12C and 16C (53F and 61F), with the time they will continue to ripen in the bottle, you better serve them at their storage temperature. The Westvleteren 6 blond can be served cooled, from the refrigerator. Don't keep the blond beer too long, it is only good for one year. 041b061a72