Westvleteren Extra 8

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

Sampled a few times and finally split a bottle courtesy of Travlr . Pours a translucent amber with a thin head. Aroma is bready, yeasty, lots of boozy caramel, brown sugar, dark fruits. The smell from the cap though is completely heavenly and divine. Yum. Flavor is sweet, lots of candi sugar, plums, figs, brown sugar. Pretty good but I would like to try a few more to really see why this beer is so hyped and sought after.

Sweet aroma; candy sugar, spices and dry fruit (cherry?). Deep amber-brown with nice off white head; a thin layer remains long after the pour, nice lacing. Moderately sweet and moderately roasty. The roasted flavors pursist as the tastes transitions from sweet to lightly earthy-hoppy. A nice bit of green apple approaching the finish. Overall very smooth palate. A pleasant beer, well described as a toned down version of the 12. Notes: Tasted 24 Jan 10, bottle purched at In de Vrede

Bottle poured into a St. Bernardus goblet. Pours dark, murky brown with a ruby tinge when held up to the light. Large creamy frothy tan head, that sticks around for a long time, and leaves sticky lacing on the glass. Aroma is heavily malty, with caramel, perfumy hops, doughy yeast, dark sweet fruits (raisins, plums, dates, pears), toffee, and alcohol. Taste is moderately to heavily sweet, and lightly acidic. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth, with soft carbonation, with a slight alcohol burn at the end. Overall, a delicious brew!

Bottle conditioned, 330ml, aged 5yrs. Dark brown to ruby with slight cream head. Beautifully smooth and light, right from the off for such a big beer, some port like notes, quite fruity with a soft berry character, blackberry and sweet cherry. Never overwhelming, just very pleasant easy drinking. Straight into my all time favourite list.

Bought in Amsterdam before Reach Belgium, we never knows what is wait for us and Murphy always shows up! Very dark amber color with a very nice Beige head that keeps a nice lacing until finish. Aroma is complex. dark fruits like plum, blueberry, some sweetness, toffee, malty, quite alcohol and I don’t know what else is on it. Flavor looks like the same, but I felt the alcohol on it. Mouthfeel is long and totally dark fruity. Really good, the price compared to Brazil was amazing, since I paid ¢12.- euro and in Brazil at least cost some ¢40.- Euro.

[Bottle] traded to me by Dakine. Thanks for this treat! This bottle has been sitting undisturbed in my fridge for the last month and still gushed. Pours a murky brown with a medium sized head that lasts nicely. Aroma is similar to the 12 but more vibrant and bright. It doesn’t have the peppery alcohol notes, which is neither good nor bad. I still get the vinous grape smell that comes off as the purple fruit snacks, but it’s still very enjoyable. Flavor is markedly thinner in mouthfeel than the 12, little alcohol presence, sweet malts, still fairly vinous, but it just doesn’t have the body to really make it stand out. The carbonation is soft and the finish is pretty quick. Overall this is a bit of a letdown, but I had really high expectations to begin with, so that doesn’t mean it’s a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination.

stupenda.poi bevuta sul posto è sicuramente migliore.era l’agosto del 2007 quando ho sentito per la prima volta questi profumi di malto tostato carammello e frutti apolpa rossa. che dire....salute!!

Bottle. A cloudy dark brown beer with a large, frothy, creamy, mostly lasting and lacing light brown head. Outstanding aroma, richly malty, with some yeast and a hint of hops. There are notes of caramel, fruits (banana, plums, raisin), nuts, sugar, chocolate, some vinous hints. Wonderfully balanced nose and also powerful. The flavour is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. The toasted notes are more evident in the mouth, and again a wonderfully balanced flavour. Medium to full body, lively carbonation, long finish with light to medium bitterness, lightly alcoholic. Simply amazing, maybe I preder Westvleteren 12, but it gives me enough pleasure, joy, enjoyment and delight to give it the perfect rating.