Westvleteren Extra 8

Bottle. This is a great beer on par w/ Rochefort 10. The only hit I give it is a stronger than "normal" alcohol flavour (for 8 ABV), but not enough to knock it from the upper-tier of beers. I’ve kept bottles for over 4 years with no noticeable change in flavour.

Paper notes from the Falls Tasting / 2006 YeHA!. Bottle dated 9-25-2003. Many thanks to Cap’n Cougar for making sure I had the opportunity to sample both this and the Westy 12!. Subtle fruit nose, apples and malt. Cloudy brown. Mild tanginess. Light bodied with a crisp dry finish. I look forward to the day I can contemplate my way through a bottle as a solitary exercise.

Bottled. Pours dark brown with a fizzt off white head. Malty and sweet. Great complexity. Notes of caramel, dark fruits and berries. Somewhat yeasty.

outstanding. i tried it a little young, it was bottled in 2006, and i had it just recently, but definetly one of the best i’ve had. Outstanding beer, if you can get yours hands on it. buy it!

This one also was sent to me by BA dogfooddog and had a best by date of 18 Feb 2008, making this a little shy of two year old. The beer poured murky orange brown in color, and was topped with a three finger tall head that simply refused to die. Needless to say, the lacing was pretty solid around the entire goblet. Aroma was quite a bit superior to most other Dubbles, which typically underwhelm me with their yeast driven smell. This one seemed much brighter and fruity in comparison. The yeast was certainly detectable in a dusty undercurrent, but the overall smell was not dominated by it. The taste was sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, but not complex enough to detract from the drinkability. The primary flavor impression was that of dried cherries with a light coating of chocolate. There was spicy bite to the flavor, and surprisingly there seemed to a clean bitterness in the dry finish. Not a hint of the 8% ABV to be found at all. A superlative Dubbel, which has forever ruined the other more typical examples of the style for me.

Milwaukee YeHA! 2006

Thanks to Cougar for driving this up from Atlanta. We did a side by side comparison of several top Belgians including both Westys, St Bernardus 12 and Rochfort 10. This was up there with all of them. The fact it was almost three years old only made it a more fun experience. I don’t know that I would pay $18 a bottle for this but if it came my way I would not turn it down. Maybe it is time to start planning a trip to Belgium.

Aroma / Appearance - Cherries, chocolate, raspberries, caramel, malt and honey form a very complex and inviting nose. I could have sat for an hour taking in all the tempting aromas coming out of my glass. The body is a caramel dusty brown with a tan head.

Flavor / Palate - The mouthfeel is creamy and sweet. A whole host of flavors unfolded over my palate starting with chocolate, caramel and honey. From there it took on a fruity tone which finished on a sweet note. It was a little warming and hot but not over the top. Overall this was a very solid beer which deserves its place in the Top 25.

452nd. Bottle that I picked up on eBay. Dark brown. Off white fizzy head. Vinous aroma. Also aroma of dried figs, dates, etc. Spicy flavor with hints of toffee and fresh figs. Long lasting feel on the palate. watery texture. Very dry. Definitely one of my top favorites of all the Trappists.

Bottle from Kulminator. Pours a dark brown with a medium sized off-white head. Light aroma, very fruity, slightly sweet and almost tropical which I found interesting. Body is well balanced, moderate bitterness and a smooth feel. Flavours of more tropical fruit, caramel, a light alcohol. The finish was a little cloying and came too fast, I was expecting flavour after flavour as I had with the 12, still great, but nothing amazing.