Achel 8 Bruin

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

head: 5mm , white
colour: red/brown
smell: candy sirup, toffee, caramel, overall sweet with hints of malt
taste: bit sour start , overall nice bitterness level, malts, kind of wet malty flavour , bit irony, a decent amount of alcohol, end is skunky and oily

THOUGHTS: Exploded on opening, but I managed to only spill a few drops before getting it to the glass. It might have been slightly skunked. It had the thickest lacing I’ve ever seen. You could have called it blanketing instead of lacing. The carbonation was intense, but not pin prick level, just extremely tingly. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a medium brown with amber highlights and an average to large, light tan head that mostly diminished but kept a fairly thick sheet and left lacing that was beyond excellent. It also had tiny, small, and medium size particle of an average density and large particles of a thin density. The aroma was nice, but weak. There was moderate molasses and caramel; a hint of chocolate; light to moderate fruity and dusty yeast; brown sugar, licorice, spices, dark and sour fruit. The initial flavor was sweet, lightly acidic and slightly sour ; while the finish was slightly swee, acidic, lightly sour and slightly bitter with an average duration when it came to flavor, but a long duration for mouth feel. There was dark and sour fruit, brown sugar, caramel, maple syrup, molasses and light alcohol. The medium body was oily and then dry with very tingly carbonation and a slightly astringent, lightly alcoholic; dry and dusty finish.

Pleasant, complex and very drinkable, Dark brown with a fine size foamy lasting head. Dried fruit and caramel malt aroma. Spicy and fruity flavour, raisin, plums, sweet fruity finish. Slight hint of alcoholic warmth. No bitterness. Medium body and lively carbonation. Drinks like a more low key version of the Rochefort beers.

Tasted from 330mL bottle at Lush West Town. Pours hazy brown-orange with a thick and fluffy white head that recedes slowly and leaves heavy lace. The nose is brown bready malt with brown sugar and spicy yeast. The flavor is brown sugar roasted malt with some bread and very light hops with a spicy yeast flavor. The body is medium and sticky with lively carbonation and a long brown sugar finish.

Pours a light murky brown color with a white foam head. Has an aroma of candy sugar and caramel. Has a sweet cider like start with lots of malt and a nice hit of carbonation. Some dark fruit and yeasty, doughy notes on the backend. Medium mouthfeel. Very good beer.

Pours dark brown/ruby with a large lasting head. Nose shows caramel, grassy hops, bready malt and doughy yeast. That grassy character ain’t good. Flavours include loads of candi sugar, bready malt, golden syrup and caramel. Very nice. Unfortunately there’s way too much carbonation. Seriously ridiculous. Can’t get much of a taste because of it.

Bottle. Pours an awesome head that lasts long. Foam (bone color) is of a very soft and fluffy texture and feels warm to the lips. Good lacing. Color: clear dark ruby. Aroma is mildly sweet with some dark fruits (cherry?) which is balanced with some sourness, kind of like vanilla yogurt. Taste is medium sweet with a nice bitter hind at the end. Only thing that does not fit this beer is the strong carbonation, would’ve been nice if it was a bit more gentle. Gentle sweet lingering finish.

This is beer #1 in my Trappist tasting tonight. I have a beer from each of the Trappist breweries, except Orval, to compare and contrast. I excluded Orval because (1) I’ve already ranked it, and (2) it’s the most oddball of all Trappist ales. It doesn’t really fit in with the styles of these other ones. I also picked this beer, Achel 8 Bruin, because I haven’t had it before. It’s a Belgian brown ale and is also different from the rest. All the others are either Tripels or Quads. Okay, onto the beer! This is a 33 cl bottle poured into a tulip. Pours a hazy orangeish brown with a very thick pillowy bone-white head with nice retention; leaves some foamy lacework. No floaties. Aroma is caramel, raisins, molasses, sherry, age; kind of faint at first but opens up considerably as it sits. Taste is sweet and sour with no bitterness; flavors are bread, bananas, tart apples, dry white wine. Carbonation is high, body is medium. Finishes alcoholic and dry. I like it but don’t think I’d buy it again.