Achel 8 Blond

Brewed by Brouwerij der Trappistenabdij De Achelse Kluis
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Hamont-Achel, Belgium

GUSHER!!! Started spewing even before I’d opened the cap. Even after sitting to rest for a few minutes it immediately started foaming up when I poured it in the glass. Golden colored. Very cloudy. Huge white head. Flavor is nice, but subdued.

In short: A very yeasty and refreshing strong Belgian blonde ale with a nice musty/rustic character. Great beer.
How: Bottle 330ml. Many many many many times. Usually as fresh as possible
The look: A persistent medium white head floats over a cloudy dark blonde body with many small particles.
In long: I’m typing this while drinking one but this is a beer I could have described without drinking another one. I’ve been buying this stuff by the cases. The nose is musty and yeasty to the max with some tropical fruits esters. There’s something rustic and “old” in that nose, like opening a can of fruit salad in a dusty attic. Taste continues in that direction. Biscuit malts, dusty yeast, a little acidity, pineapples, green apples and grapefruit acidity and a little band-aid. A good amount of dry floral hops provide a lot of grassy/floral dryness and little bitterness. A kick-ass highly drinkable beer that seems to be ignored by most beer geeks. Doesn’t age well, older bottles then to develop ferrous notes. This is a beer you definitely want to drink fresh. Because if you don’t you will drink it not fresh.

Hazy blond beer with a clear white fizzy head. Taste of bitterness and apple. Very nice blonde Trappist which tingles the tongue just enough.

(bottle) pours a clear golden colour with a billowing white head. aroma of honey, spices and grain, herbal hops, banana and a whiff of alcohol. flavour is the same, with mostly grain and a slightly bitter finish. medium body with smooth carbonation.

This a a nice easy to drink Trappist ale. Decent flavor, pairs well with rich meats such as corned beef.

Poured from the bottle into my Westvleteren goblet. I poured it slow because I wanted to avoid getting any of the huge yeast chunks into the glass; as a result the head is less than stellar for a Belgian but still a solid one finger. Massive sheets of fine bubbles adorn the sides of the glass as the volume dwindles with each sip, but they dissipate into thin spiderweb lacing over time. Appearance: The beer is very cloudy on account of the ample yeast. Pours a dark straw color. Smell: Yeast is the dominant smell, followed by overripe apples. Taste: Yeasty malt overrides a vague hoppiness, followed by slight booziness at the end which becomes more and more prominent as the beer warms. Notes of pepper, citrus rind. Mouthfeel: Excellent mouthfeel. The carbonation is very fine, producing tiny bubbles that carry the beverage along the tongue like tiny wheels. A bit thin in the body though. Drinkability: Pretty good, although the blatant yeastiness is a bit too much for me to want another right away. The trappists have made better tripels but this one holds its own. I’ll certainly come back to it another time.

lots of soapy honey and cellar muff in the aroma .. . great firm white head ... fantabulous lacing .. very easy to drink, abv plays well, .. . very fun little brew, is it really 8%,.. wow, fit to be trappist!.. .

330ml bottle (Cracked Kettle, Amsterdam)
Clear rich gold, huge fluffy head - a joy to behold. Beautiful clean hoppy aroma, slightly sweet and fruity. Big burst of esters in the mouth, both pleasant fruity ones, but also some more chemical spikes such as ethyl acetate. Decent malty body backs that all up nicely. Well balanced and clean. Yeast fills out the body more, more fruity, more esters. Can’t quite deliver what the aroma promised, but still a very tasty Belgian.