Westvleteren Extra 8

Brewed by Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Westvleteren, Belgium

Bottle. Yeast, floral and bread. Some sweet fruit flavors, but not overly sweet. Wonderful.

Dark brown with a medium sized off-white/pale brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves plenty of lacings. The smell is of light fruity aromas and plenty of malts - very thick and robust. Notes of fudge and toffee mixed with earthy herbal aromas. Some spicy phenols and alcohol. Rather complex and well balanced, but it’s not as impressive or as powerful as I had expected. In the taste, there is a similar balance between fruity aromas and malts as in the smell: cherries, slightly tart red currants rests upon a decent malty backbone. Fudge and caramel delivers much of the sweetness. Dark bread, a gentle note of wood and just a hint of blanket (which I find a bit odd). The finish is slightly phenolic and somewhat bitter with notes of sweet alcohol, herbs and minerals. Full bodied, smooth texture. The finish is somewhat dry. A very pleasant mouthfeel. A good beer, very good actually. Complex, well balanced and tasty. But one of the best beers in the world? Perhaps not, in my humble opinion. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Aged bottle- not sure how long. I have had it for about 3-4 years- with D&V label. Could be older. Pours a nice woody amber brown with a nice softish head and some lace. Aroma is toast, toffee, sweet malts, very low oxidation- some sherry, earthy phenolics and nice light fruity esters. Good full malt flavors with a high carbonation, but is so soft, it makes the beer so smooth- phenolic, spicy, earth, dark malts, dark candi sugar, toast, molasses, nutty and slight burnt notes with good dark dried fruits. Smooth and easy drinking. Awesome.

Big thanks to eicandersnavy. Brown pour with sediment. Faint smell of grains, fruits, and a little yeast. Tastes is dominated by dark fruits.

Bottle pours very dark brown with almost no light passing through. A thick tan head forms on top and slowly fades. It never really goes anywhere. Its lasts as I drink it and laces beautifully. Aroma is a wonderful mixture of dark fruit. Plum, raisin, fig, some candi sugar and belgian yeast round out this gem. Prickly mouthfeel from the high carbonation. Flavors follow the nose and finish semi-dry. Alcohol is hidden well. This is a wonderful beer.

Pours a light brown with a off-white head into my Chimay goblet. Taste is sweet, but not overly so, which I prefer. Dark fruit (plums, cranberries, raisins, etc.) really sticks out on my palate along with some alcohol bitterness on the finish. Mouthfeel is good, light-medium in body, coats the mouth well. I prefer this Dubbel to the Quad and will drink again, for sure.

Aged bottle shared by Dickinsonbeer. Dark brown with ring and lace. Woody caramel sweet cherries and brown sugar aroma. Mild roasted caramel brown sugar yeasty and sweet dark fruit with medium tobacco bitterness. Soft fine palate. Very complex. Very good. Will rerate when I get a fresh one.

Bottle with big thanks to ericandersnavy. Dark brown pour with loads of sediment in the pour. Very nice aroma of sweet plum and dark fruits. Some yeast but also well balanced. Darkly flavored. Heavy dark fruit with plum, raisin and grapefruit. Also has bitter flavors with a bit of Belgian taste. Solid with no doubt.