Westvleteren Extra 8

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

Sampled at the café across the abbey, served assumably at the "correct" temperature. Great taste and aroma, maybe a little too chilled to really bring out the right smells. Tastes great, smooth and good mouthfeel.

Dark nut brown with white head. Very filling and complex. Dark fruits- a bit sweetness. The finish is long lasting and pleasant. Compared to the 12, this needs the "last punch". Almost as good

First thing that popped into my mind when I smelled this: Bubble Yum...grape flavour. Had tasting notes of grape gum also. Hints of candied fruit, apples peel and raisins, Christmas cake, spiced figs, and...more grape. The mouthfeel was so balanced and quite smooth. I could not detect any alcohol on my tongue but could feel it’s fuzzy presence in my head once I had finished this. A truly complex brew that begged for me to drink it again so I could continue to dissect it and take it apart in my head. Lots of things happening here. Did I mention the finish? Too much to really get into but let’s just say that the finish alone was a bit of a metaphysical experience. Monkdom beckons me.

2008 bottle via trade with ygtbsm94. Pours a murky dark brown color with a huge rocky khali head that had good retention and lacing. The aroma was moderate in strength with cola, apples, nuts and a bit of bread. The flavor is similar to the aroma with dark fruits and caramel taking center stage, followed by nuts and yeast. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy. The finish is long with lingering raisins. Overall: The palate is awesome, only the good brothers at st sixtus can concoct this type of palate and I love it. The taste of the 8 is a bit milder than the 12, but otherwise quite nice. Thanks brad, this rocks.

2008 Bottle - Thanks Sam! - Pours organy brown with a nice off white head...aroma is sweet fruity malt, some dough, grape must...flavour is similar, a little bit spicy, a little bitter, nice balance with a boozy finish, very nice!

Nice brown color with a creamy head. Dark yeast ad generous carbonation. The smell starts with hints of chocolate and then gets overwhelmed by citrics. Quite a bit of yeasty bradiness there, hops and a subtle mixture of fruitiness. Catch some sweet-apple, peach there, even some banana but nothing overwhelms. Well balanced flavour although the aftertaste is a liiiitle bit to bitter for me. The taste is a chocolate/coffee background with very subtle hints of fruit... surprisingly nothint much happens in the way of taste development.

Thanks again to Cirrhosis for selling his soul and crushing the monks most sacred of beer wishes. The beer: HOLY CHRIST! Look at the insane ammount of sediment! The colour is awsome and pretty much perfect - dark red/brown with an OK light tan cap that looks like melanoma thanks to the shovelful of sediment that cannonballed into the glass. Nice malts and sweet (another grape Hubba Bubba sighting) to the nose with interesting spices....here come the hops!! Very well balanced. Very appealing. Taste is really balanced as well. Raisins, soft warm hops, tasty malts. It’s too bad that I just couldn’t get more out of the taste. Then I drank a ton of sediment and dammit, it is freaking tasty. Smooth and medium to full bodied with a touch of alcohol and suprisingly little aftertaste. Excellent beer.

Wow. fruit. do you like fruit? If not, then this might not be the brew for you. I managed to get my hands on a few bottles of these (thanks TimE!). Expensive as. Actually gushed out of the bottle, even though it had been sitting out of the fridge for a while. Obviously a lot going on here. A huge fruity nose. Blackcurrants, apple, banana etc. The moutfeel was medium bodied and very fruity. As it warmed up it had more toffee and coffee notes, as well as a pronounced alcohol bite. Finish was medium bitterness with spice. A exceptional beer. It is very Belgian. I am not a huge fan of Belgium beers at the moment...but this is class. Can’t wait for the 12.