Trappist Westvleteren 8 (VIII)
Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)

 

 

I did everything possible not to like it.

After serving it, I could still smell it from two meters away.


I tried it and although it does not reach the Westy XII the only thing I can say while I continue to dislike it is that it is simply epic, well deserved fame.

 

 

 

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a lightly hazy, medium to dark brownish orange with a fizzy, one finger khaki head that dissipates to patches with light lacing; a bit of particulates at the bottom of the glass despite a calm pour..Aroma of dry caramel malt, figs, raisins, dates and and some toffee. Flavor follows, with deep caramel malt, dried dark fruit, particularly dates and raisins, brown bread and cloves. Finishes a bit minierally but with residual dark fruit. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Has a much brighter flavor profile than any dubbel I've had before, almost a Belgian dark ale flavor. This is undoubtedly due to this having a bit of age to it with a best buy date of 2019, so likely about 8 years old. Probably my only chance to try this, so I grabbed a bottle. Despite the assumed lighter characater for aging, has a deep malt and great fruit notes. A slight sharpness (mineral) in the finish, but the residual fruit flavors make up for it. This makes me really want to try a fresher bottle, but I'm still impressed with the malty flavor depth of the 8; not quite a deep and malty as 12, but fine. A rare treat, I've wanted to try something from this brewery since I started my interest in craft beers and glad to try the dubbel and quad.

 

 

 

Poured more beige foam than walnut colored beer into the glass, so I guess the unknown age of the beer isn’t too old.
The aroma was pretty mild for me due to Covid messing with my sense of smell, but I did get some dark fruit and chocolate and spice. Had to be potent for me to get any of that!
The flavor was really, really good. Dark fruit and dark chocolate and a menagerie of spices that were all wrapped up in what seemed like champagne flavors and texture.
The feel was excellent, the massive head didn’t dissipate the carbonation that I could tell and somehow that is what made it all work together. Maybe the bite of the bubbles kept it from getting too sweet? Not sure. But darned good dubbel!

 

 

From 10/16/21

2011 vintage

Well, it may be a bit older than is ideal, but I’m very excited to try Westy 8, the highest rated Dubbel on BA! After having the 12 for the first time just a few weeks ago and loving it, I knew I had to seek out some of this too. I managed to end up with 1 bottle each of 2010 and 2011, so I figured I’d drink the slightly newer one first. Let’s see what it’s all about

Pours an opaque medium brown with just a ring of light tan bubbles that leaves no lacing

There’s a surprising boozy bite in the nose here given it’s only 8%. I’m picking up on aromas of dark bread, burnt caramel, sweet bourbon, raisin, brown sugar, honey, pear skin, and light clove

Even 11 years out, this has a great presence in taste. On the front end of the sip I’m tasting black cherry, dark bread, candi sugar, pear skin, light floral hops, overripe banana, and plum. The swallow brings notes of dark toast, raisin, red grape, sweet caramel, toffee, sticky molasses, and light honey

A medium body pairs with gentle carbonation, resulting in a smooth and silky beer. Finishes mostly dry with a nice fruity sweetness

It’s certainly not the ideal to have this so old, so I have to bump it a bit in the overall. I can see what used to be there when it was fresh and I hope one day to be able to try it fresh. Either way, it’s an awesome beer

brown-red, foamy, long lasting. dark fruits, cherry, raisins.

typical belgian yeast. also sherry/port wine tastes. creamy/smooth, some acidity.
some spices.
some bitterness in the finish.

overall: many similarities to westy 12, but a bit more toned down, less sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a firm burgundy color with a little haze to the transparency. A little protein build up floats in the glass. The first 3/4 of the bottle was poured into the glass for this review, with more sediment in the final quarter. Head is three fingers of off-white foam, which retains well. Aroma is sticky caramel, toffee, raisins, and bread pudding. A little yeast spice counters the initial sugary notes, with bready, caramely, light earthy malts firming up the whole thing. Clove adds a bit of herbal bite to the mid-section. Flavor profile is raisins, toffee, molasses, cinnamon, and almonds. Spicy yeast esters work well with bready, caramely, earthy malts to balance out the initial sugary notes, without smothering them out. In total, it has a hearty bread pudding taste without being over zealous in sweetness. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a soft, expansive effervescence that seems to feel bigger at the end than the start. This effect helps create a comforting, full feeling. Overall, some great malt and flavor undertones in both nose and taste. A comfortable blanket of a beer.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 33cl bottle.

330mL bottle (best by 10/23/2019, so bottled 10/23/2016) into a Westmalle chalice.

Pours a slightly hazy deep mahogany with minimal head, lots of tiny floaties suspended throughout, steady carbonation rising to the surface.

Aroma is bready and sweet with notes of figs and dates, candi sugar, caramel. Delicate and nicely balanced.

Taste is likewise bready, balanced, and complex. One thing that stands out here, that I often don’t notice, is the quality of the water—clean and refreshing with a subtle mineral quality, like a cold spring. Caramel, dark stone fruits, Belgian yeast. Some vaguely wintery spice and subtle Old World hops.

Mouthfeel is balanced and medium bodied with perfect carbonation. Finishes clean and crisp, just right.

Overall, and not surprisingly, we have here a truly excellent, world-class dubbel. Maybe one of the best ones I’ve ever had.

 

 

 

Pours a deep, dark brown coloration with a medium, fluffy, lasting head. Smells of slightly roasted, bready, caramel malt and estery fruit and spice, with just a hint of dark fruit and chocolate also coming through. Taste is an excellent balance of slightly roasted, bready, caramel malt, chocolate and dark and estery fruit and spice, with notes of raisin, fig, banana, clove and allspice, as well as hints of licorice and herbal, bitter hops. Finishes bittersweet, with notes of estery fruity and spice lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a medium/rich body and medium carbonation.

This actually feels very close to their Quadrupel for me, except maybe being not quite as rich, a little more carbonated and just a tad more roasted and bitter. For my personal taste, I probaly prefer it, to be honest. Still, without being quite worth its secondary price, this makes for a very impressive Dubbel that just stands slightly above offering such as Westmalle, St. Bernadus and Chimay due to its richness, balance and above all body and mouthfeel, with the estery character really standing out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boom! Boom! Boom! Like Northeudge in ‘94 or Tupac shooting a music video, this one shakes, rattles, and rolls! This one is like Barry Bonds on roids…oh wait, he already was.

Get sum.

Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- Even rested/chilled it forms head really fast, so pour super-slow. Pours deep chestnut brown with slight haze and a mid-tan 6Cm head. There's fast rising CO2 micro-bubbles up the side of the nucleated glass. ps. Holds well and forms major lacing on the way down.
S- Strikingly deeply toasty and rich malts; it makes me imagine how a bag of ground up Maltesers might smell.
T- Again very malty, deep roasty, a notably fat but classy ABV% note crosses my palate, off into hops, then further rich malts and into a hoppier somewhat dry finish. Solid yet refined. Blimey, if you think this beer's reputation is hype, wait until you try it!
F- Rich deep roasty, the ABV% is clear enough it's similar to some liquor barrel aged beers.
O- I picked this one for my 1950th review (the WestV12 will mark B2k). I was conscious of the brewery's repute and hype surrounding it, the difficulty getting their beer etc etc. Would I be underwhelmed, would I be underwhelmed but feel somehow obliged to rate it high. No way at all, this is a seriously luscious beer. Now perhaps some people might not like the fact that a 'mere' 8% beer lets you get an ABV% zing from it - some regard this as unclassy - but it works well within the rather glorious whole for me.
I'd happily drink this again, hell-ya, just maybe not at the cost it is imported into the UK!
330ml bottle BB: [can't find on cap] Bought from a shop in Belgium as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.