Westvleteren Extra 8

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

Finally entering all my "Better Know a Style: Belgian Strong Ale" tasting 07 results. Very big nose of dark fruit, yeast, and molasses. It looks amazing, with nice brown and large off-white head and good lacing. Flavor is malt sweet and dark fruits, and slight alc. Creamy and full body. I’m glad I was able to share this one with the guys.

Aroma is wonderful. Aromas of wood, fruit, and alcohol. Appearance is dark brown with huge off white head that has an interesing cosistency. Tons of lacing. Flavor is comlex and multi-layered. Hard to exract all of the flavors. Excellent.

Bottle, best before 2007; eye: brown, suspended matter, nice white head, no effervescence, no lacing; nose: floral hops, grapefruit, citrus, caramelized malt, "fresh", spices; mouth: "fresh", lightly fizzy at the start, mellows a little, alcohol comes back, citrusy, chocolat, finale where the bitterness and the caramel mix well, full body, oily and creamy texture; overall: really good FRANÇAIS Bouteille, meilleure avant 2007; oeil : brune, matière en suspension, belle mousse blanche, pas d’effervescence, pas de dentelle; nez ; houblon floral, pamplemousse, citron, malt caramélisé, « fraicheur », épices; bouche : fraîche, commence légèrement pétillante, s’adoucit, alcool revient, citrique, chocolat, finale où l’amertume et le caramel se marient bien, pleine en bouche, texture huileuse mais aussi crémeuse; en résumé : très bonne

Sampled as a precursor to the Hopsnobbery Collective barley wine tasting on 3.14.09. Pours a clear amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma of malt, hops, apple and some other fruits, but mostly smells like grape flavored bubbalicious bubble gum. Malty flavor with lots of grape, belgian yeast and some alcohol. Much better than most belgians I’ve tried.

Splendid color. A big beautiful head that you had to wait to dissipate before you could get a good whiff of the wonderful aroma, which was as complex as any I have had. The taste was equally complex, from chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, and port wine, to fruit. Rich, semi-sweet finish. Saved this one for rating #100. Think I'll make the 12 number 200.

From Bottle, expiration date October 2005. Nut brown, cloudy pour with a wonderful cherry oak tinge and a velvety layer of off-white head. Swirling the beer in my snifter glass produces showers of miniature bubbles floating down the sides of my glass. The aroma is absolutely intense - brandied dates, cinnimon raisin, and brown sugar coated walnuts overwhelm my senses. Returning back for a second helping brings a dessert course of a caramelly southern pecan pie. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light relative to the intense bouquet, but still pleasant. My brain is forced to shift gears upon tasting, as my tongue is flooded with a dry, oaky, vinous texture. The woody palate is a bit of a contrast to the sugary fruit and nut aromas, but creates a pleasant extra dimension rather than an unusual contradiction. The finish is of stringy cedar bark with a final smack of brasil nut and a mild corona cigar. Thanks, Matt!

Hard to sample with an open mind when a beer carries this big a reputation and you’ve paid AU$20 to snare a bottle from what might be the only case to reach Australia this year. But here goes... It poured a teak colour with amber highlights and a towering pillowy head that took an eternity to sag back into the Maudite chalice. (And never entirely disappeared.) Clumpy lacework spackled the glass. The aroma was surprisingly light for the 8% abv and dominated by yeast. The key notes were grape bubblegum, fresh dough, ginger and dark rum. (It sparked a scent memory of the ginger beer I brewed when I was around 12 years old. A couple of bottles blew their caps and sprayed the bedroom cupboard where I’d stupidly stored them, so I lived with the smell for months...) It’s medium bodied and the mouthfeel is smooth and a little oily, with a terrific afterburn as it slides down the gullet. The finish is dry and spicy. The flavour is initially sweet and malty. There’s plenty of fig-like dark fruit before the peppery alcohol kicks in. Minor criticisms: this sample is arguably too fizzy in the mouth for the style (may have suffered from the journey) and I’m not sure it carries its alcohol quite as easily as some of the other Trappist 8s. Nonetheless, this is a remarkable brew and it breaks my heart to think how long it may be before there’s an opportunity to try it again... Sob. (33cl bottle, International Beer Shop, Perth)

Beer of the gods. need I say more. A beer of wonderful depth and coplexity and amazing balance. unfortunately not a good enough reason to give up sex. But a good substitute or maybe a good choice to lick off the object of your desires, wait a second what the hell am I doing on here?