The Belgians eh? They may be a divided country when it comes to politics but they sure can make some damn fine beers.

 

On the left we have Westvleteren XII which has been rated one of the greatest beers in the world. It’s a very hard beer to acquire as normally you can only purchase it from the abbey after giving them your car registration and turning up on the schedule date.

 

Last year they released the beer to a worldwide audience as part of a ‘brick’. The brick was six bottles of Westvleteren XII and two of the glasses you can see on the left and where released to help restore parts of the abbey. As you can see the glasses are tiny but that’s probably because the beer is 10.2% ABV. My expectations of this beer where high and was slightly disappointed when I tasted it. I think it was still green as I had another bottle over Christmas after ageing for nearly a year and it was a totally different beer.

 

The beer on the right is Trappistes Rochefort 10. Another big hitter at 11.3% ABV and once again, it being a Belgian beer, it must have the appropriate glass (I collect beer glasses btw). For me this is the nicer beer of the two.

 

If you can, get yourself to Belgium, in particular Leuven or Brussels. Head to the many, many bars, get the beer menu and take it all in. Flights are cheap and bring an empty suitcase for the return journey. The beer and glasses are great value there.

 

In summary, drink good beer, drink craft beer, drink Belgian beer