Achel 8 Bruin

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

Bottle, 500ml. A light brown colour with a large foamy head. Aroma is strong: sweet and fruity with summer berries and citrus. Taste is quite malty with some woodiness and more berries. A fair amount of sweetness, but not too much alcohol noticeable. A really tasty brew, made quite easy to drink by the fruitiness.

Thanks to dchmela for this beer. Pours a dark amber with a thin beige head, but this beer is really full of particulates way too many. I know it’s just yeast, but a bit annoying. Anyway, the aroma is sweet fruit, strawberries and cherries. The taste is a well balanced and excellent Belgian. Strong yeast profile, some sweet fruity esters, a light and fairly dry malt and a tiny alcohol presence. Really nice. An excellent beer.

A dark clear amber/red with a medium sudsy tan head. Sweet sour vinegary nutty aroma with some vanilla. Sweet vinous rich malts, berries, slightly nutty, and pretty dry in the finish. Raisins and cherries. Somewhat one-dimensional for a trappist. The bitterness is a bit odd. Has champagne, riesling, like sweetness/bitterness combo. Very airy body that doesn’t make sense for something very malty. It made sense for the blonde. This might age pretty well. I like it, but i think the blond is a more complete brew.

Murky brown pour with a startling amount of particulates and a thick off-white head. Subtle fruity nose rife with Belgian yeast; notes of raisins, figs, other dark, dry fruit. Flavor is dark fruit and sugar with a big alcohol presence. Fairly typical Abbey dubbel/bruin, only chunkier. Thin on the palate with a lingering sweetness and acidic bite. Not bad.

Bottle, split with after4ever. Pours a clear dark coppery amber with a massive and lacy off-white head. Aroma of plums and grass. Medium body and light carbonation. Sweet taste with some fruit and spice. I think I’ve had too many BSAs in a row tonight.

Typical trappist ale. Fruity ester profile; apple, plum, cherry. Light spices like cinnamon and maybe a little clove. Moderate sweetness and a relatively large alcohol presence for an only 8% beer. Maybe a little bit of a tart sourness sitting on the tongue after the swallow, slightly reminiscent of sour cherries. Nice complexity, nice flavors, but nothing special to elevate it over 4.0

330. Pours a murky, grainy dark brown with a thick and creamy tan head that leaves a Devil’s Tower in the middle for the longest time. Takes forever just to get the beer down to a drinkable level. Big sweet tree fruity and boozy nose. Medium body, even slightly watery. Mild dark pitted tree fruits and a bit of sweet hay or grass on the mid-palate; mild sugary finish. Very well-made but not deep or complex enough to really excite the senses.

Pours a deep brownish-orange with 2 fingers of tan head and nice lacing. Quite a lot of residue sinking to the bottom. Not much aroma, slightly sweet and fruity. Medium body - lighter than I expected for a trappist of this alcohol content. Sweet fruity flavor which lingers a long time. Finishes sliightly salty.