Westy 12 release: mid December

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:05 pm

I picked up a bottle of wine at 8:30 tonight and asked again while I was in. Admittedly the cashier I spoke to didn't seem to know much in general, but she did say she was just told "this week" and that she hadn't seen it yet so she assumed that means Thursday (but she also said "I don't want to say Thursday for sure in case it's actually tomorrow). If it was going out tomorrow morning, it would probably have to be at the store already.

Bytowner · Post by **Bytowner** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:07 pm

This is all just mental. I'm starting to worry that some of you folks are going to hurt yourselves or others. The beer really isn't worth all this angst, especially at $80.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:14 pm

I can't believe I have to live through another day of this. How the F&^* am I going to stay off this website tomorrow...

Also, who are some of these people posting on this thread?

cmadd · Post by **cmadd** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:16 pm

I have friends that have a cursory interest in craft beer that are really looking forward to this beer, and I can't help but get the feeling that it's severely over-hyped. People are going to be spending nearly $100 for "the best beer ever", as if such a descriptor could even exist considering the diversity of beer styles, and be massively disappointed. I have had enough quads to know that Westvleteren is thoroughly standard. It may be considered "the best" by some trained group of tasters, but for most people this will not be a revelation and not worth the price tag.

midlife crisis · Post by **midlife crisis** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:23 pm

Agree with all that. But it's still kind of fun, don't you think? Kind of like a treasure hunt.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:26 pm

IT'S BULLSHIT BEER, YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS IF YOU BUY IT!!!

*cough* - ok, I'm fine now.

You know what was a rare beer??? BA Tempest, and it was yummy, and I have two bombers in my fridge, so why am I so freaked out by this? Other than the fact that I am an anxious person to begin with.

No - I do want to try it, and am getting caught up in this nonsense, but we're to blame for this panic - we the ones calling the 'BOs and so in turn they're telling us, hudreds of people have phoned (even though it's been like, what 12 of us, phoning constantly, myself included?) and you'd better camp out at our stores...

Fuck you, awesome beer! I want my sanity back!

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:28 pm

Cass wrote:The interest in Westy caused yesterday to the be the highest traffic on a single day all year on BarTowel. Wow!

Is it just me, or is the site getting laggy with all these extra guests?

cmadd · Post by **cmadd** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:28 pm

I think I just came into craft beer too late to give a shit about Westy. Pliny and Westvleteren are simply no longer the best beers out there. They aren't my favourite examples of the style and they aren't particularly technically demanding. There's nothing that makes them stand out, except their history. They may have been mind-blowing beers in their time, but now they're one in a thousand. North American breweries have been far too creative in the last five years.

Bytowner · Post by **Bytowner** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:34 pm

cmadd wrote:People are going to be spending nearly $100 for "the best beer ever", as if such a descriptor could even exist considering the diversity of beer styles, and be massively disappointed.

Probably not. The mind's a funny thing. If it was all about taste the 12 never would have gotten to the top. But when you're paying $80 and lining up for something so romantic, chances are you'll "love" it.

It's a fine beer, but everyone getting angry about possibly missing out should chill, maybe grab a La Trappe.

groulxsome · Post by **groulxsome** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:36 pm

I'm mostly just interested because I've never had the thing before and I want to ship a couple back to Newfoundland for friends. It's honestly more for beer education purposes than because I feel like the beer is truly worth the hype and expense and all this excitement/drama. I'm sure it's great but, perspective wise, I'm just as excited for Junction Conductor to open up. I was just as excited for Bellwoods and Indie Ale House earlier this year.

I don't much mind the drama, it'll be nice to have inside knowledge of "The Great Ontario Westy Panic of 2012," but I'm not really going to be crushed if I don't get it. It's not THAT big of a deal. If gawkers who want it purely based on hype get them all, great for them. Hopefully it turns them on to great beer and the LCBO will up its Belgian selection based on demand. It can't hurt for them to see people lining up, bursting down the doors, and ringing the phone off the hook for a beer. I wonder if the Peché I see sitting on the shelves was billed as one of "the worlds top 50 beers" in the papers would something similar happen whenever it hit the shelves... maybe grab some of those instead.

Of things I'd like to do tomorrow, braving a little line for a nice beer seems like an alright thing. In a perfect world I'd rather be at the Stone Epic Vertical, but, hey, a chance at a Westy 12 is a decent second.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:40 pm

Bytowner wrote: It's a fine beer, but everyone getting angry about possibly missing out should chill, maybe grab a La Trappe.

Or a Cuvee van Keizer - it's 7 bucks for a bomber!

groulxsome · Post by **groulxsome** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:40 pm

JeffPorter wrote:You know what was a rare beer??? BA Tempest, and it was yummy, and I have two bombers in my fridge, so why am I so freaked out by this? Other than the fact that I am an anxious person to begin with.

There were only like 40 bottles of that! If you managed to get two your likely going to be able to get one of the 2016 packs of Westy. At least, that's the logic I'm using...

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:48 pm

groulxsome wrote:
JeffPorter wrote:You know what was a rare beer??? BA Tempest, and it was yummy, and I have two bombers in my fridge, so why am I so freaked out by this? Other than the fact that I am an anxious person to begin with.
There were only like 40 bottles of that! If you managed to get two your likely going to be able to get one of the 2016 packs of Westy. At least, that's the logic I'm using...

If we're working on that ratio, I should be able to get, like, a hundred packs! I think there were actually about 100 bottles of that, but that's kind of what I'm getting at.

To put this in perspective, I was in a newly renovated volo tonight, had an awesome glass of their own BA Imperial Stout (remember when their brewery didn't exist?) And there were almost 30 other really good options on the board including Hopfenstark and TdD.

If I were to take an inventory of my "cellar" right now, I would say half of it is Ontario stuff brewed in the past year, and mostly the rest of it is stuff that Keep6 has brought in with a smattering of other stuff.

Point is two-fold:

1) Ontario and Canada is awesome.

2) Get your grubby little undergrad-no-daytime-job-having hands off my Westy!

Soods · Post by **Soods** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:50 pm

JeffPorter wrote:
You know what was a rare beer??? BA Tempest, and it was yummy, and I have two bombers in my fridge, so why am I so freaked out by this?

Hey I'll trade you a Westy for one of those BA Tempests!

jimmay · Post by **jimmay** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:51 pm

I forget what 393 in London said. London is often a day or two behind toronto releases.