Westvleteren beer causes frenzy in Toronto

Ale aficionados in Toronto made a pilgrimage this week for the chance to get their hands on a rare Belgian beer widely regarded as the best in the world, reports the Toronto Star. Westvleteren comes from the Trappist abbey of Saint Sixtus in Vleteren, West Flanders, and is usually only available to buy in person at the abbey. The beer is now being sold abroad to raise funds to repair the monks’ crumbling 19th-century abbey. More than 150 buyers lined up at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario shop in the city on Tuesday morning to try to bag one of 120 six-packs – which sold out in four minutes. Two of the hopefuls, Peter Price and Mark Quigley, left Cobourg, 95km away, at 6.00 to get to the front of the queue. “I guess we’re beer connoisseurs. Quality over quantity,” said Price. “There was a good story behind it. That’s half of it, I think.” Shop manager Robert Saliba said, “We sold out in less than four minutes,” and many customers were turned away empty-handed.