The Abbey of Sint Sixtus in Westvleteren village is occupied by a small community of devout Trappist monks. Dressed in white robes, the monks devote their lives to work, charity and prayer. Then why, you might ask, is there often a long line of cars parked outside the abbey?
The answer lies inside the abbey brewery, where the monks have been producing small volumes of dark Trappist ales since 1836. Mostly they sold the beers in local cafes. But then in 2005 the sales figures suddenly shot up after Westvleteren 12 was ranked as ‘the best beer in the world’ by the website Ratebeer.com.
The monks went on selling their beer the old way, in bottles with no labels. ‘We are monks, not brewers,’ they insisted. Customers had to phone to order a crate. Give the registration number of their car. Then drive to the abbey. Wait. And pick up the order. You had to promise that you would drink the beer, not sell it on for profit.
The monks recently broke with tradition by allowing customers in Belgium to place an online order for home delivery. The maximum order is two crates.
Some people say that Sint Bernardus 12 is just as good and much easier to find. But it’s not quite the same. In a blind tasting, Westvleteren 12 is definitely the winner. Maybe not the best in the world, but a very good beer.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
