Achel 8 Blond

Brewed by Brouwerij der Trappistenabdij De Achelse Kluis
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Hamont-Achel, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Bottle, split with after4ever. Pours a cloudy gold with a lacy, massively fluffy white head. Aroma of candy and brown sugar. Sweet full body and light carbonation. Candy-coated sweet taste that leads to a woody dry finish with touches of spice.

Bottle, yeast swirling in the dark golden haze. Named as Achel Blond, no number 5 or 8. Fantastic aroma. Smooth and robust with notes of sweet fruits. Quality, drinkable, but not elite.

Pours a cloudy golden sunshine color. Explosive whitehead. Nice line of of bubbles rising up the side of the glass and good lacing that sticks around for a while. Aroma is aweet with hints of lemon. Some grainy scents, wheat, also bubblegum and granny smith apples. Flavor is apples and spice, bubblegum, pepper. Some astringency and a good bitter hop balance. Very creamy mouth feel and a lingering play between the hops and sweet yeasty flavors. Very enjoyable.

330. Pours a hazy bright golden medium amber with a towering, thick, surging, fluffy beaten-egg-whites pile of a head. Lots of starry lacing on the way down. Big sugary, grassy, pastry-ish nose. Medium body, light fizz. Hay, grass, white sugar, dessert-y mid-palate. Long sugary finish. Too sweet to be around all the time, but definitely an amazingly good BSA.

UPDATED: MAR 1, 2008 Achel 8 Blond is very cloudy with floating yeast. With an aroma of orange, corriander and apples, the flavor carries hints of the same. A good ale with a nice dry aftertaste.

33cl bottle, marked 07-08/06. Pours the color of pure amber with rather large suspended chunks of caked yeast. Starts with an initial dense creamy slightly off-white head that settles to a blotchy skin with sticky lacing. Nose is very delicately fruity and flowery, with crisp pear and apple qualities, and a sweet white grape varietal. There’s also a complex grainy caramel note to the nose, one found only in trappist brews. Gently effervescent on the palate, with further grape dimensions, semi-sweet honey, lemongrass, fresh baked cookie, and a faintly lingering slightly medicinal herbal bitterness. Warming as it descends. Very nice.

Golden pour with a thick white head. Lots of visible sediment. Musty, yeasty aroma; very heavy on the malt. Spicy, fruity malt flavor ... a bit on the peppery side and a very strong alcohol presence. Lightly bitter finish. Excellent.

Blonde pour with huge sudsy white head and few bubbles. Tons of yeast in the aroma. Loads of citrus and yeast. I really like it, very drinkable. Very airy body with tons of carbonation. Despite it being somewhat 1-demensional (for a belgian strong), the flavors are soo strong and so drinkable I’ll rate it a little higher.