St. Bernardus Prior 8

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Watou, Belgium

Aroma: strong smell of cherries before the glass was near my nose. Slight hop fragrance hiding in the back. The pour filled the St. Bernardus glass I have. The head was dense and about a good inch high, with small bubbles. The color was a reddish brown. It would be clear but a lot of the bottle sediment clouded it up. I couldn’t escape the cherry smell when I tasted it. I came away with a sweet, candy taste. I got the usual nose clearing that my boyfriend eloquently describes as rubbing alcohol. That nose clearing is my lower bar for a good Belgium :-) The palate was just slightly syrupy on the tongue, but still bubbly on the tip of my tongue.

The short and sweet of this is that although I’m not comparing them side-by-side, the Prior 8 is the Westmalle Dubbel with the addition of a candied sugar background. This however doesn’t help me to understand how even though the bottle says ’Dubbel’ right on it, Ratebeer has it in the Belgian Strong Ale category. Anyway, I do enjoy the balance of the Westmalle more, while this is very close to an abt with a saner alcohol content, and if I wanted a bigger beer, I’d go with this. Another terrific brew from St Bernardus. By the way, just noticed, the Westmalle and the Prior have the same overall rating... weird.

One of the top Belgian strong Ales - no sugar taste - complex aroma’s and hints of spices - a good balance and to be true a beer of 8 % alc brewed to perfection - hard to find in Belgium regular pubs due the brewery is too small for field marketing - but they invest in quality ingriedients - cheers

This beer pours a deep brown almost black color with a thin tan head. The aroma is licorice, raisins and nuts. The flavors are the same with maybe a little less nuttiness. This is a very lively beer with lots of carbonation and a well crafted beer! Cheers!

Pours a dark, ruby reddish brown that formed a nice thin foam layer. Aroma strong of semi burnt prunes, figs, malts and apple glaze sauce. Flavour is full bodied, yet light. Figs, sugar candy, prunes, spices and such come through. A bit heavier than than other beers Ive had from this brewer, but yet the light, some eggwhite fluffyness comes through. Extremely good beer, bottom line. Truly a work of art, this beer is awesome. We are so lucky here in the States to get this lovely ale, thankyou friends in Belgium, once again you’ve done it again.

Hazy cola color with a huge foamy head. nice lacing. Smell is candy sugar yeasty, spicy. Super smooth mouthfeel. Taste is sweet spices, caramel malts and black pepper. Nice alcohol bite to finish. 61806

Top notch aroma, big fluffy head, and brown, muddy body. With 8% alcohol, Prior 8 has all the markings of a well done Belgian Strong Ale.

Pours a dark reddish brown. Aroma of banana, apple, and cookie...interesting! Too carbonated for my tastes. It has a nice body to it if you can get past the fizz. A little too sweet for me...I’ll stick to the 12.