If you thought it was a struggle to secure that bottle of the nearly unobtainable Pappy Van Winkle for the whiskey lover on your holiday shopping list this season, just be thankful that they didn’t ask for the ever elusive Westvleteren Trappist Ale.

Widely regraded as the world’s finest beer, it’s sold in just one place: the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in the Belgian municipality of Vleteren. A trip there to procure the stuff requires a reservation. And even then, the monks who brew it will only sell it two cases at a time.

Like Pappy, which the Wall Street Journal famously reported was a luxury that eludes even billionaires, the scarcity of Westvleteren Trappist Ale is just one of those things that money just can’t buy.

Unless of course you find yourself in the vicinity of Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood. That’s where unassuming sports bar Downtown Bar & Grill keeps the veritable “Holy Grail of Beers” in stock. Just how much? No one knows, but according to Roadtrippers, one 12 oz. bottle will set you back $50.

No doubt that’s steep for a single brewski, but it’s a heck of a lot more affordable than a trip across the Atlantic to get it straight from the source.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons