Meghan and I are heading to Europe in May. A couple of days in Paris, and a couple of days in Brussels.
Why Brussels, you ask?
Zane Lamprey and his show Three Sheets (now available on Hulu.com) on the Mojo Network.
Long and short of, there is a scene in the Brussels episode (watch here) where he visits the Delirium Cafe and is treated to many of the 2000+ beers on the menu. At one point, he is shown, not allowed to drink, share the name, or show the label of one local Abbey’s beer.
Our goal was to find that beer (And, who wouldn’t want to visit a place where the local hang-over cure is Belgium chocolate?).
So, that was our mission, find the Abbey the bar couldn’t sell, promote, or show on TV.
Zane has changed gears, and is now doing a food show on some network, somewhere — my wife saw him. So, my wife sends him a message on his advertised MySpace page, asking if he remembers the name of the Abbey in Brussels.
Not expecting a response, she gets one in less than 12 hours!
Trappiste Westvleteren.
Great! we’ve got a name, and after some research, the we learned it is brewed by the Saint-Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren, Flanders, Belgium.
Ah, but it can’t be that easy, can it? It isn’t.
The have limited supply, and they have rules.
1) you call to find out what is available, and how much is available;
2) you call back to make an appointment. They give you a time, and require a car registration number;
3) you show up in the car that is registered with the appointment, you pay, you get your beer;
4) beer is only sold to individual customers, and you promise not to resell the beer to others;
5) there are limits at times to one case, per customer, per month.
There are three varieties:
- Trappiste Westvleteren Blonde (5,8 vol.% alc.) 22,00 euros
- Trappiste Westvleteren 8 (8 vol.% alc.) 27,50 euros
- Trappiste Westvleteren 12 (10,2 vol.% alc.) 33,00 euros
(note: right now USD$1 = EUR$0.64 ~ approximately)
Next step, I need to get an international drivers license, or figure out how to get from Brussels to East Flanders, and have a registration number to register when we make our appointment.
For another beer lover’s experience, check out this blog post we found that helped us complete our research:
http://40beersat40.blogspot.com/2008/02/quest-to-westvleteren-abbey.html
