Rare Beer By Appointment Only

There’s a bit of a ritual involved with procuring what lucky souls have described as the best beer in the world.

Brewed by silent monks in Belgium, Westvleteren “Trappist” can only be purchased in limited quantities, by placing an order on (I kid you not) the monks “Beer Phone”.

It’s a great example of ultra-premium anti-branding: the monks do no advertising, nor do they label the bottles. The beer, which costs from 22 euro a bottle, is available only once a month, and you can only order 2 cases of 24 bottles at a time. Remi Johnson of Boston’s Publick House calls the brew “the holy grail of beers”. It’s on the menu there, but rarely in stock.