Achel 8 Bruin

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

Bottle at St. Veronus. Was recommended as an alternative to Rochefort 10. On first sip I wanted to jump out of my seat and say "you’re kidding right?" Not too bad a beer. But certainly not satisfactory. Hints of spices in the flavour. Nose was a little dull and the body itself didn’t hold out too well. Amber-brown ale with a minimal bitterness to the taste, and just plain unpleasing. Wouldn’t buy again.

Bottle @ Bishops Arms Umeå. After I’d seen the light with the Achel 8 Blond I started getting high hopes for this beer. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, my inflated expectations were punctured after the pour. Murky, muddy brown in appearance with a fizzly head that sparkled for a minute or two. Like the Blond there’s a drier, more cork and caramel quality to this beer than most BSAs. Semi-sweet upfront, then quite bitter, earthy (mushrooms?) and finally a spiritous finish. It was disappointingly bland. From this brewery this particular gentleman prefers Blonds.

There was a lot of sediment and the color was an amber/yellow. The head was light beige and creamy. The aroma was citris, ale, and alcohol. The flavor was very sweet at first, then bitter with alcohol and citris hints. The palate was very smooth and the finish, warm.

Poured a brownish red with lots of sediment. The head was thick, tan, and creamy. The aroma was sharp, showed alcohol, sweet, wine-ish, plum. The flavor was spicy, dry, and showed plenty of alcohol. Not as complex as one would hope. The palate was warm and carbonated. The finish was warm and mellow.

another quality trappist. the aroma is more overpowering than the flavor, which remains strong and lacks a bit in complexity.

Beer 5 of O’brien’s Trappist Tasting 2/3/07. Pours clear brown with a white head. The aromas is big and bold and malty. The taste is strong and sweet and feels like a good beligan brown.

An excellent brew. Wild ridiculous head. I overpoured and it rose above the tulip in a column like a souffle. Very fruity aroma: plums, dried cherries, pineapple? Flavors are like aromas but more dry, with light spices: pepper, cinnamon, dry alcohol. I love strong ales.

I am pretty sure I got a bad bottle of this. I do not know what happened. The color was a nice red and it had the biggest white foamy head I’ve ever seen. However, the sediment was ridiculous. There were hundreds of things floating around my glass, some the size of fingernails. The beer had hardly any aroma and the taste was very stingy, thin, and just off. It wasn’t skunky but it tasted quite sour and just bad. I’m sure this beer is good but something was way off for me. Don’t know what happened but looking forward to trying a different batch of this in the future.