Rochefort Trappistes 8

Brewed by Brasserie Rochefort
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Rochefort, Belgium

Pours a very dark ruddy brown. Off-white two finger head that dissipates slowly, but leaves little lacing. Aroma is dried fruits. Flavor is sweet, with cherries, raisins, toffee and oak. Carbonated, champagne-like mouthfeel. Alcohol is a little too present, but an excellent beer nonetheless.

Pours a hazy brown (sometimes chunky). Yeasty aroma with burnt sugar.Taste is yeasty with rum-raisin, fig, caramel/burnt sugar, a bit of grape nuts. Nice hops balance and dry finish. A good brew. (rerated 9/09)

Bottle - pottles a very dark brown with a tan head. Aroma of sweet fruit and yeast. Cherry and alcohol flavours with a dry finish.

Pours very dark with a thin head. Flavor was surprisingly hoppy with a very dry after taste. I felt like I needed a drag of water after every sip.

330 ml. bottle. Pours a thin head of good duration over a murky brown (SRM 20) body with much flocculated yeast....nose of fruits, fig, cherry, spice, clove coriander, bread, yeast....tastes initially of heavy carbonation, then sweet, then multiple fruits especially cherry, finishing slightly tart...mouth feel is quite light, partly carbonation, partly alcohol. The finish is the best part of this ale.

Bottle - in the actual abbey in Belgium, and here as well from local retailer. I initially tried the beer in Belgium with out knowing much about trappist beer - just a lucky connection with a friend who knew a monk at the abbey. The initial experience was amazing. Dark brown pour with a nice head. Complex aroma with caramel and malt. Great mouth feel, and great finish. At the time, the best beer I had ever tried, hands down. Bottles here have not produced the same "nirvana" feeling, but a great beer nonetheless.

Botle 33cl. A very good trappist beer. It smells quite the same as the Rochefort 10 but with less alccol. Personally I prefer to get them young, more sweet. Once old the taste is more acid. Very complex aroma, taste is sweet with fruits and a bit of caramel. Anyway it’s a great beer.

Pours a dark brown with lots of sediment and thick tan head. Aroma of dried fruits and roasted malt. Flavor is strong with a warmth, almost too complex to describe, but I’ll try. I taste the raisins and dates, the chocolate, and a slight sweetness with a lot of alcohol warmth, but no alcohol taste. Definitely a beer worth having again.