St. Bernardus Prior 8

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

Pours burnt orange w/ full semi creamy froth. Aroma of red licorice and rock candy. Medium to full nectar w/ ample residual effers. Flavors are slightly sweet w/ stewed apricot, peach, raisons, brown sugar, angstura bitters, anise, ginger root, cinnamon, and chewing tobacco. The finish has a nice dry bittering. This is one complex specimen. Well balanced, not too sweet, alcohol is well hidden. Connoiseurs choice! Highly recommended. I have to say this again. I love this brewery. Everything they do is amazing.

This is by far my favorite of all the St. Bernardus beers, and quite simply the best dubbel (if that’s what it is) that I have ever tasted. The ABT 12 is almost perfect but just a bit too sweet, the tripel is great but several tripels are greater (say, Westmalle). The Prior 8 in contrast has no bad qualities I have been able to discern and no other beer has it beat in any respect. It is a very substantial, vinous beer. In fact, I have never tasted a beer that was so similar to a wine before. We have here the aroma of prunes, raisins, various fruit, and yeast. Caramel is very pronounced, but what’s remarkable about the Prior 8 is that it manages to be caramel-y without being sweet (here the ABT 12 falls short). We have here plenty of carbonation and appropriate hop bitterness--the hops are definitely more pronounced than in most Belgian dark ales of this strength, and yet the beer is not bitter; it’s just very well balanced. "Dry" is the word, not "bitter". Another respect in which the 8 is superior to any comparable beer I can think of is that it manages to be quite dark and caramel-like without even a hint of roasty/burnt flavor (what some people call "coffee" or "chocolate"). In this respect I find it preferable to the comparable Rochefort (viz. 8, or 10 for that matter).

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 is a very enjoyable drink, but rather difficult for me to come by. I look forward to drinking more of it.

Dark brown colour with a dense head; pepper, plum, spice and caramel aromas; sweetish/bitter taste with liquorice, dates, alcohol, cherry, pepper and caramel aromas; bitter finish with liquorice, roast, toffee, chocolate and chicory aromas. A wonderfully complex ale. Amongst the very best Belgian beers.

Beautiful aroma, rich ripe fruit and some funky smells as well. Do I detect a hint of chocolate? Pours an unclear reddish brown with large chunks of sediment. A wonderful beer, my notes section is very short as I was too busy enjoying this! Perfectly smooth, winelike, world-class.

My favorite Belgian brewery hits it perfectly with bubblegum, tropical fruit, chocolate, banana and stewed fruit in perfect balance. Creamy, perfect palate. At half the price of Westvleteren, this deserves major Overall Impression points. This is the Belgian I'm going to buy on a regular basis. UPDATE: After many samples of this one, it's still my favorite Belgian. On draft, I encountered tremendous lively complexity, with the ester bubblegum coming out a bit more than usual, but tempered perfectly with the light chocolate notes. I cannot say enough.

ah yet another abbye ale.i love these.anyways,here we go....when i first poured the st. out,it appeared to be a dark brown.then when i shown it up to a light.i was greeted with a red appearance,and little "floaties" scurrying around the liquid.next came the aroma.i was rushed with a complexity of chocolate,figs,malts,and honey.the last and best surprise was the flavor.very smooth with malts,fruit,belgian yeast,and chocolate.this is simply outstanding.bolth of the st. bernardus brews i have had were top notch. re-rate:this gets better everytime i have it honestly.this perticular instance the prior 8 poured a picutre perfect brown/ruby red body with a lovely 2 inch head.when the head simmered it left gobs of webs on all sides.i just drank my last one,damn i need to re-up and age a few of these.