Westvleteren Extra 8

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

I live about 30km from the abbay. If you drink this beer a few month’s after botteling, it is a very good beer. Fresh from botteling it’s also a good beer, but there beer is better when you let it closed for a few months. A lot of my family love this beer more than the 12° Westvleteren. The beer is sweet, with taste of chocolate, hop and malt.

Almost stouty, yellowy irregular head. Wholemeal and sprucey garden herb hop aroma as exuded by a dry unfiltered german helles , leading into ripe berryish fruit, thick spread choc nuttiness, oak,grass,almond,malt loaf.. Sometimes we just make these aromas up,and sometimes they’re really there, mingled but distinct. What a dribble-making complexity of malts and hops .Big booze, blood and bitterness right from the off, developing a smooth nutty choc bittersweetness, coniferous hops and just a touch of paper/nibbled HB that lets it down. (Krusovice?). Apple strudel and caramel sauce ,Twiglet and hazelnut afters, but always that sting of hop bitterness. This beer is so far removed from the sugary flabbiness of other dark Belgian brews of comparable strength. Only Rochefort really runs it close.What a wonderfully lean,hoppy, savoury dark ale. Worth driving 500 miles for a 6pack. (Original rate-4.1)Pours an almost impenetrable dark mahogany flecked with white. Head is yellowish and dimpled, collapsing into a marbled slick of whirls and clumps. Aroma bitingly sulphurous, yeasty and packed with nutty roasted malt. Raisiny dark fruit devloping as it hits room temperature. Sniffs like a slightly eggy, malt-heavy English cask bitter, with a distinct note of snatch. Flavour initially aggressively bitter but not especially roasty, mellowing into a seductive interplay of bitter chocolate, nuts and the same powerful bittering hops that underpin the Blond and the 12. Quite acidic and dry in the finish. There’s a fair amount of sugar goes into these beers, but it doesn’t really come across because the hopping is so robust. Palate characteristically light, but only serving to enhance the beer’s already dangerous drinkability. Not especially rich or complex, but it’s the savoury, skillfully uncomplicated pairing of bitter hops and malts that mark this out as a great beer. Deliciously balanced dark ale.

Tastes of brown sugar, caramel, toffee, and dried fruits...a small head floats on top of the mahogony brew...and lacing continues to follow you down the glass. Solid brew...but probably shouldn’t be in the top 10. Flavor improves noticeably as the beer warms but I’ll still opt for a nice glass of Rochefort 8!!!

Rubi to brown color, nice head. Aroma: Plums, toffee, malt, chocolate, nuts. Palate: Malt, chocolate, dry fruits, raisins, spice, dry finish. Fantastic beer.

This beer poured a dark brown with a ruby tint - thick head and nice lacing. The aroma is malty and somewhat caramel with the alcohol becoming noticeable as the beer warms. The taste is malty and caramel. Cherry flavors are noticeable.

Bottle, courtesy of tytoanderso. Pours a very dark amber with some light head. Notes of malty goodness and fruit on the nose. Nice light carbonation. Long finish on this beer, which is one of its strongest attributes. Well done.

Bottle via ebay: Pours dark amber with a full, thick head. Great aroma of sweet malt. Flavor of malt and alcohol, but in a good way. Great beer. One of the best that I have ever had.

nice carbonation on this pour. pours a clear dark brown with mild white head. sweet mild raisin aroma full bodied sweet raisin with full finish. dry aftertaste. good.