Is Westvleteren and St Bernardus worth visiting in Belgium?
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- In this video we visit two of my dream breweries, Westvleteren abbey in Vleteren (duh!) (whose Westvleteren 12 some consider the best beer in the world), and St. Bernardus in Watou which makes its own Abt 12 which is outstanding! We decided to rent bikes and drive around the area starting in Watou. We even visited a quant watering hole in Poperinge to drink with locals. Join us for some beer drinking fun in our last Belgium video!
I've been to both Westvleteren and St. Bernardus numerous times.
I first few visits to St. Bernardus were before they had the new building and I couldn't believe what I saw.
Beautiful area.
The St. Bernardus ABT 12 on nitro was delicious and incredibly dangerous to drink. Went down soooooo easy and smooth.
Lucky you!! Yes Belgium beer on another level. I am grateful you watched my video. Happy new year!
Great content thank you both
Thank you! It was our pleasure! Very nice of you to comment and watch!
Hey has anyone gone there without a car? I will be visiting Belgium this summer and would like to go to these two places. I have a good idea of how to get to Poperinge, but from there to the breweries I am a bit lost. Are taxis an option or some kind shuttle service?
Hello and thanks for watching. I’m not sure that would be feasible without a car unless you maybe stay in poperinge and get a bike. I recommend an electric bike. I wish we would have done that.
@@dadisphat6426 thank you so much for your answer. I'll look into that then 🍻 cheers!
You can also stay in Ypres where there is more transportation possibilities and tourists. An electric bike is the best. BTW in Ypres there are now a lot of café with lot (i mean a lot) of local beers, and the Kazematten brewery (proprietary of st Bernardus). Definitely eat 'stoofvlees' in St Bernardus brewery. Bonus: there is also a brewery in Oost Vleteren (east-vleteren). Have a nice stay! Flemish people are very nice people 😊
Oh yeah ... I almost forgot ... Go to the Helleketel to drink their beer or zatte bie ... Say hi to Lena and the cat :)
@@sledgeHammerRulez hey thank for the info, I'm gonna look into Ypres and transportation options from there. I'll also make sure to take your recommendations into account 💪🏼🍻
Funfact: St. Sixtus Abbey, the creator and first producer of Westvleteren beers, made an agreement with St. Bernardus brewerie to produce the beer (so they transfered all the recipies from St. Sixtus to St. Bernardus). But in 1992 the Trappist Association ruled that Trappist beers can be only produced inside monasteries to be considered "trappist". So, in that year, the Westvleteren beers production returned to the St. Sixtus Abbey, and the St. Bernardus brewerie started to produce the beer "St. Bernardus 12" with a pretty similar recipie than the "Westvleteren 12" beer. So, it's said that St. Bernardus 12 is a "clone" of Westvleteren 12.
I’ve heard that also. So much history in these beers for sure!
Pretty sure it's the same recipe but they now use different yeasts.
St. Bernardus still use the original Westvleteren yeasts, while Westvleteren uses Westmalle yeast, like a number of the Trappist breweries do.
Just been there, this video helps me to remember our visit. Cheers
I bet you had a great time! Cheers 🍻 to you as well and thanks for watching
Certified Belgian here. I have been to West Vleteren and had their 12. It's great but IMO not really worth all the hype. I prefer the Rochefort and the St Bernardus comes really close. Never been to the St Bernardus brewery but it looks like a cool place to visit so I might convince some friends to go.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. Yes, Rochefort and St Bernardus are also amazing beers. The Rochefort 8 is my wife’s favorite. I can get it here in the USA but it’s $7us for a 330ml bottle. Gotta pay to pay for good beer I guess. Thanks for watching!
Belgian beer will conquer the world, I don't know when but it will 😉🍻
You are the Nostradamus of beer! Thanks for watching!
I felt you almost cried with your first sip 😀
No one can deny their true love!
You just went to my 3 favorite places in the world, Helleketel with Lena, bar Bernard in Watou and de vrede in Westvleteren. But for me it is only 20 minute drive 😂
Wow! I wish it were a 20 minute drive for me. You’re very fortunate to live so close to an amazing beer culture! I’m jealous 🤩
Tip: if you want to know how to pronounce a dutch word: open google translate, set it to translate dutch or nederlands to english, type the dutch word in the dutch part and click on the microphone in the bottom left. One problem there, you get it in a netherlands accent, not flemish, and that is different
That’s good to know. I try but sometimes it’s not easy at the time or time efficient to look things up, but I do try when I have time. Thanks for watching
Our local dialect is no where near Dutch ... :)
Did you ride from Poperinge to Watou? What route? What about riding from Pop to Watou to Vleteren to Pop? Its around 30 miles per Google, doable for me but would it be wise?
Or should we grab a taxi, Uber?, rent car? Obviously we will have beers and cant be dorking around but want to hit De Struisse Westy and St B 😊
Check out www.toerismewesthoek.be/nl/bierfietsroute-poperinge-vleteren#route-on-map
We started in Watou and went to Westvleteren and St Bernardus. Bike ride was great but electric bikes would have been perfect. I doubt you can get Uber or taxi there. They are small towns
Ended up taking a bus from Poperinge into Watou, got dropped off in a cornfield, a local drove us to St B 🥰. Ebiked to Westy and had W12’s, got a six pack, next day the sales director at St B drove us to Poperinge. Got lucky! Thanks for your videos we were able to do much more!
@@Chedda_chz that’s awesome ! I’m so glad my video was helpful to you! I hope you had an amazing time. What we’re your favorite beers you tried?
@@dadisphat6426 having tried several we get in California, even those tasted way better being fresher like Duvel, Straffe, Leffe, Grimbergen which we visited their breweries. The beer festival was a huge hit, tried a few great beers, forgot all of them, i shoulda wrote them down! I'd say W12 was because it was my first time having it. De Garre was up there too - went there because of your vid. Missed out on the oldest pub in Belgium, Struise, Cantillon, and others were closed while we were in those areas but I brought home some Struise and W12!
The rules for drunk driving are also valid for bikes. Those heavy Belgian beers don't wear off after a few minutes only.
That’s definitely true
Rochefort 10 , easy to obtain , just as good . 😊
Yes it is an excellent beer!
I'm currently in Germany, where might I possibly go to purchase one?
Good video, though you drank them wrong. Should be 6, 8, then 12.
That’s good to know. Next time!
What do you guys do for a living to afford these trips? Lol
Financial Advisor for 21 years. UA-cam is for fun. I'm fortunate to be able to travel. We love going new places!
@@dadisphat6426 I aspire to retire haha
Don’t we all! Thanks for watching
Enjoying the videos, but please give your lens a wipe :D
Yes I know I am learning 🥴
@@dadisphat6426 keep it up though! enjoying the videos! and a bit jealous of your beer tour of Belgium.