Rochefort Trappistes 8

Pours brown tinged with yellow. Has a 1.5 cm dark tan head. Decent lacing. Smells of hops, dark bread dough, cooked green peas. Mouthfeel is slick, but it puckers the tongue, drying it out a bit. Taste is roasted malt, cocoa, white vinegar, whiskey, and some high alcohol notes. Aftertaste is very sour citrus. Becomes mustier as it warms. Not bad.

Bottle... Poured foggy ruby with a beige head, nice lacing. Aroma of sweet, roasted barley-malt. Subtle palate with a sweet acidity and a stern malt profile with some hops too. Slight alcohol for a satisfying finish.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy brown, slightly lighter than the 10, with a frothy light tan head. Aroma of delicious apple, pear, raisin, and yeast. Flavor of apple skins, awesome combination of light fruits, with a full, rich creamy palate. Light alcohol burn but certainly not as boozy as the 10 (which I love, but you’ve got to be in the mood for boozy). It took me awhile to decide if I liked this better than the 10 - not as flavorfully complex perhaps but I do love those light fruits. The mouthfeel is simply incredible. Almost perfect and my favorite Belgian Strong Ale. 10/5/9/5/20 (4.9/5)

Update 5/1/09: So I’ve had this beer several times since my original rating and find myself not as impressed as the first time. This is a really tasty beer, but it is no longer my favorite. 8/5/8/4/18 (4.3/5)

Good carbonation, Thick foam that stays long time. Semi dark appearance with a spicy smell with traditional belgian fenols, and complex mixtures fruits. A sweet caramell taste with spices. As the beer gets warmer the alcohole is obvious together with apricots.

I had quite high hopes for this beer, and to be honest, was slightly dissapointed. I was certainly not wowed. Pours hazy brown with lots of residuals. Aroma is of fruity yeast, apricot, and spice. Evident, but not profound. Flavor is of cider, fruit, cherry, and nuts with some fruity esters in the back. Malt is evident and quite complex, but not as hard hitting as I was hoping for- much more subtle. Palate is really quite incredible- prickly at first, but subsides to become incredible smooth and unassuming. Not world class in my opinion- I definitely need to try this one again and intend on doing so in the near future.

Rich on the nose of yeast, hops and honey. Luxuriant and long lasting head, with some lacing, and dark teak body. Fully rounded flavour, with the alcohol perfectly blended and balanced. Great beer.

Color is hazy dark brown. Beige head is thick, cloudy, long-lasting and lacy. Aroma is very complicated: spicy, salty, sweet syrupy, roasty malty with a bit alcohol. Flavor is very nice and soft: salt licorice, spicy, sweety and syrupy malty with pertinent hoppy bitterness. Full bodied, soft, foamy carbonated and a bit alcoholic, warming palate.

Aroma of.. i dunno, slight fruit. Excellent palate, flavor was non fantastic. Was not impressed on the whole, but its not my favorite style