Rochefort Trappistes 8

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

Pours a hazy mahogany color, with a surprising head. The aroma has some fruit, some brady and some read wine. The taste is fairly malty, a bit of spice and an unexpected tobacco like taste in the background.

Hazy golden dark brown color, tiny bubbles in the head around the edge of the glass. Spicy maple vanilla creme notes in the taste with different dark fruits making appearences with each sip. Good complex stuff.

Deep dark tawny with ruby and crimson colors. Tan head that creams up first, then retreats to just keep the top of the glass covered. Aroma is bready with fruits, plums, raisin, lilac. Delicious sweetness hints through the nose, this is an awesome beer and I haven't even tasted it yet. The flavor is very balanced, almost no alcohol bites through, but a light warmth is definately felt. Also a lightly salty finish. Mouthfeel is creamy and wet, finishes quick but lingers where it counts. This is a great Belgian Strong, definately deserving of its reputation.

Dark brown, tan head which dies quickly. Bananas and limes in the nose. Flavor of sweet sugary bananas, a little abrasive from the alcohol. Cloves, wood and nuts are picked up. Heavier on the alcohol, more "salty".

Powerful, powerful flavor with a strong bitter 'ping' throughout. Smooth and creaming going down. Extraordinary brew. Looking forward to getting ahold of some of the 10.

This beer only scores lower than the Rochefort 10 because the 10 exists. This beer is also exceptional, but a bit more subtle in all respects than its bigger sibling. Great complexity, but less assertive stone fruit flavors and aromas, less alcohol overtones, and more of the developed yeast character is allowed to come through as a result (phenols, esters).

Bottle served slightly chilled. Dark hazy brown, reddish tint, thick white head. powerful aroma, malt, raisin, brown sugar, cherry. Full body, heavy dark bread taste, malty as all hell, candy sugar balanced with slight bready bitterness. Alcohol is quite noticeable. Velvety smooth carbonation, delicate, yet has a stickiness in the aftertaste that I just can't get past. Like eating a whole loaf of dark raisin bread. Huge and warming, lacking a little in flavor depth. But perhaps I'm nitpicking here. Great beer, can't wait for the 10.

Massive meringue head (as expected), deep brown colour. Has a multi layered complexity about it. I get dark malt, raisins and a yeasty taste. Can't really go wrong wit Trappistes Rochefort.