Westvleteren Extra 8

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

Bottle. Pours a hazy dark brown with dense, proportional beige head. The aroma is very lovely, lots of dark fruits, almost like blackberry jam; there are also some woody hints, pine needles, vanilla, dry red wine, toffee, and an ever so distant bitter chocolate note. The flavor has a more pronounced toffee quality, along with plenty of prune, plum, cherry, and various berries. There are some nice toasty notes, along with some dried leather. There’s a pleasant dryness to the finish, along with just a nudge of ashy sourness, that keeps everything in balance. A very nice beer, indeed.

What a beer. I have had a few of these in Belgium and brought back a few bottles as well and I am still cellaring those. This bottle I got from Kclinger’s Public House in Etters, PA. Shared it with a few friends on New Year’s Eve, what a treat. The beer poured a nice rich dark mocha color with a nice tan head that stuck around for awhile. Yum. The beer has some nice roasted caramel and fruit notes that I can’t get enough of. I have to go back for a few more wiffs before starting to consume the beer. The fruit character of this beer masks the high alcohol content but it is still there to remind you it is a dubbel and a damn good one at that. This is definitely a drinkable beer that I would like to have another of really soon. I think I will.

Muddy brown, with some floaties, and a nice beige head developing in a lasting veil. Fresh yeast, caramel, fruity. Full bodied balanced by a nice carbonation, dry bitter end. A bit ethilic as it warms.

Soft and complex as its daddy o twelve but a bit more sharper mouthfeel because this was a fresh sample. Taste is good, let’s throw the everloving cliche of vinous around and get done with all the gloomy analyzing.

Served on 2/26/09 in chilled genuine Trappist Westvleteren goblet (thanks m) @ 35 F. Appearance is dark cloudy amber with frothy head. Flavor of light sweet, tinge of bitter, and very smooth.

Bottle from hoppymeal - thanks, Derek!!! What a delight to try this one for the first time. Immediate impression on the pour is that, like the very best Belgian strongs, this beer is lively and active in a way you might not expect given the style. Unlike its closest kin, Rochefort 8, the Westy has a dry and somewhat smoky element in the aroma that makes it distinctive in addition to complementing the soft fruit and malt notes. A touch boozy in the flavor, but there are some lovely hints of walnut and plum in there along with lighter flavors and a nicely chalky mouthfeel. Great stuff.

Pours a cloudy brownish-amber with a dark, perfect head with great retention and some lacing. Slightly funky metallic aroma, brown malt & sweetness. Oaky taste, cherry and chocolate, good bitterness while still malty. Floral aftertaste, peppery and nutty. Yum! Perfect carbonation, and slightly creamy body. Perfect dubbel, I like the nuttiness and the balanced taste. Many thanks to Jerc for the trade!

Big thanks to presario. Pours a dark hazy brown with a huge pile of tan head. The head lasts a while, dissipating into a film that never quite goes away, and leaves a generous lacing along the way. Solid malt aroma: molasses and raisins. Flavor begins like liquid cinnamon toast: a solidly malty backbone offsets overt brown sugar sweetness and cheek-tingling spices, mostly cinnamon. It becomes fruitier in the middle, somewhat tart, mostly raisins and figs, some orange and booze, which aren’t so well harmonized with the rest, before becoming roasty on the finish: toast, more sugar, molasses, figs, some coffee. Long sweet finish. Medium to full body. Some mouthfeel elements, warming, effervescence, spicy sensations, continue long after the swallow. The last gulp is thick with yeasty sediment, a satisfying conclusion.