Westvleteren Extra 8

Brewed by Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Westvleteren, Belgium

One year old bottle. Lovely, mysterious glowing orange color goes through the glass. Head never fades no matter how slow you drink it, and you go slow. Amazingly smooth, with a very mellow, complex aroma of grains. Multi-layered flavor of grains, dark fruits, wines, and a perfect bitter finish. I’ll take this over the 12.

Pre 2000 Bottle from alexsdad06. Poured reddish/brown color with an average light brown head that lasted with good lacing. Very complex dark fruit, toffee and alcohol aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Full complex dark fruiit sweet flavor with solid fruity sweet finish and a very small bite of alcohol. Very good standout brew.

Bottle thanks to Cletus. Hot damn, this is a tasty beer. Pours deep muddy brown with a one-finger light tan head. Aromas are mild at first, but increasingly seductive and complex. Fruity malts and mild but unique bready yeast notes. Mild fruity caramel, apples, raisins, brown sugar, cereals, and very slight banana notes. Very sweet but never cloying. Just got better as I drank it. Palate was lovely. Soft and delicate but with a tangy bite. I want more.

Pours a dark brown with a light tan head. Aroma is pretty complex with sourdough, yeast, cherry, raisin, and hints of dry malt. Tastes also of a dry maltiness, cocoa, raisin, cherry, just a very dry fruitiness. Finishes with a drying dark fruit flavor and mild bitterness. Medium bodied, creamy and very very good.

Pours a dark amber, caramel color with a thick, fluffy off-white head. It looks good, diminishes slowly and leaves a nice film. Lots of sediment in the bottle. The nose is fantastic. Malty with some yeast touches. Plenty of caramel, apples, honey, ripe berries, brown sugar, cereals, nuts, almonds and toffee. The flavor is absolutely gorgeous. Caramel, apple liquor, cognac, plums, cereal grains, even some rye and licorice. Orgasmic. I’ve only felt this complexity of character in a belgian ale with Saint Bernardus Abt before. Body is big, alcoholic and syrupy in texture. Full mouthfeel, complex, intense. The end is bold and long. It leaves an aftertaste that lasts for several minutes. A fantastic elyxir from the belgian monks. I’m very thankful to davidpl for bringing a bottle back from Belgium. Thank you man!

dark amber colour,thick head.aroma of toasted malt and chocolate.flavor shows caramel,raisins,tofee and notes of toasted malt.classic flavour of belgian hop.finishes dry,with a sweet alchol taste.well-balanced beer with great taste but in my opinion doesn’t merit his reputation

Bottle shared at tasting. Thanks! Pours amber to brown with a light head. Smell is caramel, raisin. Tastes is lightly watery with raisin and caramel. Lightly bittered with some burnt sugar flavor. Nice, but a bit thin. Would like to sample this again, however. Medium to thin body and normal carbonation.

Sampled as a precursor to the Hopsnobbery Collective barley wine tasting on 3.14.09. Pours a clear amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma of malt, hops, apple and some other fruits, but mostly smells like grape flavored bubbalicious bubble gum. Malty flavor with lots of grape, belgian yeast and some alcohol. Much better than most belgians I’ve tried.