World’s Best Beer Available In Stores for First Time
Beer enthusiasts aren’t easily excited. We’re generally uninterested in what’s on tap at 95% of bars countrywide, our brews of choice run $3-5 a bottle in a case and $6-9 on draft, and overall we can be rather picky wingmen. Such is life when you value the existence of your taste buds. So when we’re not emptying our wallets on our favorite brewery’s seasonal release, we’re left eagerly awaiting our city’s beer week and other rare opportunities.
As if Santa heard our prayers and read our wish lists, one of those rare opportunities struck yesterday. Out of nowhere, the Trappist monks at the abbey of Saint Sixtus in the Belgian countryside decided to sell their heralded Westvleteren XII abroad for the first time ever. For those unfamiliar with the quad, it’s often considered by both casual drinkers and seasoned critics alike as the best beer in the world.
Do not underestimate the significance of this event. Before now, this beer was only available at that exact abbey in Belgium. While many American beer drinkers have one time or another decided the price of airfare was worthy of the cause, those of us with lighter wallets can now have the chance to taste this elixir.
This is a one time thing, and the only reason it’s occurring is because the monks reluctantly agreed the extra cash was necessary to build a new abbey they’re planning. Here’s what their brewery spokesman had to say in an interview with NPR:
“I think it will be the last time. They say, ‘We are monks, we don’t want to be too commercial. We needed some money to help us buy the new abbey and that’s it,’ Back to normal again.”
Starting yesterday, limited quantities of the elusive beverage were available at a number of stores (click that link) in certain states. The beer is sold in a perfect holiday package of six bottles and two glasses, for the modest price — somewhat modest — of $85. Fellow writer, and our Daily Blackout sacrifice, Jay O’Donnell has visited the abbey and assures me that the price could be much worse.
This is one of those rare times where the cost is not based solely off the mystique; this beer really is that good. If you’re not the world’s greatest beer fan, chances are someone you know is, and what better gift is there then the world’s best beer for the holidays?