Westvleteren 12 is a Belgian Trappist Ale that has consistently been voted the single best tasting beer in the world. All major beer rating sites agree that this is the pinnacle of beers, including: Beer Advocate, Rate Beer and Beer Pal.

That's a little over 2,300 beer experts saying that this is the best beer, anywhere.

Located in the western corner of Belgium, the St Sixtus Abbey (or Westvleteren Abdij) is home to the Trappist Westvleteren Brewery. The Brewery was founded in 1838 and is owned and operated by the monks of the St Sixus Abbey.

The brewery currently brews only three beers:

• Westvleteren Blonde (green cap), 5.8% ABV, introduced on 10 June, 1999.
• Westvleteren 8 (blue cap) (formerly Extra), 8% ABV.
• Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap) (formerly Abt), a 10.2% ABV, introduced in 1940.

The 8 and 12 are bottle conditioned and have a long shelf life, with some drinkers preferring the taste when the beers have been stored for several years. This means that the beers age almost like wine.

All together this Trappist brewery produces roughly 60.000 cases of beer per year. That means that they produce roughly 40.000 cases of Westvleteren 12. That is a very small production volume for the #1 rated beer in the world. For this reason, its hard to find and usually very expensive.