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Trappist Westvleteren 8 (VIII)
Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)
- From:
- Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)
- Belgium
- Style:
- Dubbel
Ranked #1 - ABV:
- 8%
- Score:
- 99
Ranked #247 - Avg:
- 4.47 | pDev: 8.05%
- Reviews:
- 872
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Monday at 02:13 PM
- Added:
- Jun 03, 2001
- Wants:
- 1,485
- Gots:
- 494
(Blue Cap)
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by MUSHROOMCLOUD:
Reviewed by mushroomcloud from Texas
4.77/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
4.77/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
11.2 oz bottle with a cap dated 07.12.02.
A - 1/4" beige head with a dark brown yeast spot in the middle from an overzealous pour. Head falls to a collar quickly and leaves no lace. The dubbel is a murky brown color with a lot of sediment.
S - Dark fruit - prune, plum, fig. Dried fruit. Spicy fruitcake. Chocolate. Sweet tobacco. Port. Slight sour aroma late.
T - Brown sugar. Raisins. Molasses. Chocolate syrup. Rich and earthy. Tobacco leaves. Great balance - not bitter or overly sweet - just damn fine. There is a tangy, sour note late in the finish. WOW!
M - Rich, dense, full body. Liquid bread for sure. Mid level lively carbonation that has a delicate champagne like dryness.
D - Drinkability is exceptional. What a wonderful complex beer - one of the best I have had yet. Definitely believe the hype on this one. A special thanks to xcjetta who sent me this beer as part of Secret Santa '05. I have been looking at it for almost 9 months, it was worth the wait!!
Aug 14, 2006A - 1/4" beige head with a dark brown yeast spot in the middle from an overzealous pour. Head falls to a collar quickly and leaves no lace. The dubbel is a murky brown color with a lot of sediment.
S - Dark fruit - prune, plum, fig. Dried fruit. Spicy fruitcake. Chocolate. Sweet tobacco. Port. Slight sour aroma late.
T - Brown sugar. Raisins. Molasses. Chocolate syrup. Rich and earthy. Tobacco leaves. Great balance - not bitter or overly sweet - just damn fine. There is a tangy, sour note late in the finish. WOW!
M - Rich, dense, full body. Liquid bread for sure. Mid level lively carbonation that has a delicate champagne like dryness.
D - Drinkability is exceptional. What a wonderful complex beer - one of the best I have had yet. Definitely believe the hype on this one. A special thanks to xcjetta who sent me this beer as part of Secret Santa '05. I have been looking at it for almost 9 months, it was worth the wait!!
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by Lexluthor33 from New York
4.9/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
4.9/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Dark ruby color with a great head and lace.
aroma of dark fruits, malts and bread grains.
The taste of dark fruits, malt, chocolate.
Medium carbonation with a medium body and smooth finish.
Just a delight to drink and better with one or two years of aging.
Feb 27, 2024aroma of dark fruits, malts and bread grains.
The taste of dark fruits, malt, chocolate.
Medium carbonation with a medium body and smooth finish.
Just a delight to drink and better with one or two years of aging.
Reviewed by TheMadJack from Virginia
4.22/5 rDev -5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.22/5 rDev -5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured room temperature from 12oz bottle into pint glass
Pour produced a vigorous light buff head that settled to about a quarter inch. Beer is an even walnut brown, cloudy, with amber highlights. Takes on a reddish tone towards the end as more light gets through.
Nose is rye bread, cola, raisins, plums, allspice. Understated, balanced. No bananas or yeasty funk. Dates and alcohol emerge during drinking. More esters escape as you drink as well, making this beer peak near the halfway point.
Taste is the real strong suit. Pumpernickel and mineral water base under demerera sugar, clove, and licorice. Alcohol comes forward on taste during drinking as it did on the nose. Also like the nose, the overall effect is of balance and restraint.
Feel is full and crisp. Soda-like carbonation carries a weighty brew over the tongue.
Overall, a fine, unpretentious brew suitable to a variety of contexts and with no true faults, but like it's monastic brewers it doesn't dazzle. Were availability or price not concerns, this beer would be just at home next to pizza and wings as it is in at a holiday dinner.
Nov 23, 2023Pour produced a vigorous light buff head that settled to about a quarter inch. Beer is an even walnut brown, cloudy, with amber highlights. Takes on a reddish tone towards the end as more light gets through.
Nose is rye bread, cola, raisins, plums, allspice. Understated, balanced. No bananas or yeasty funk. Dates and alcohol emerge during drinking. More esters escape as you drink as well, making this beer peak near the halfway point.
Taste is the real strong suit. Pumpernickel and mineral water base under demerera sugar, clove, and licorice. Alcohol comes forward on taste during drinking as it did on the nose. Also like the nose, the overall effect is of balance and restraint.
Feel is full and crisp. Soda-like carbonation carries a weighty brew over the tongue.
Overall, a fine, unpretentious brew suitable to a variety of contexts and with no true faults, but like it's monastic brewers it doesn't dazzle. Were availability or price not concerns, this beer would be just at home next to pizza and wings as it is in at a holiday dinner.
Reviewed by MrJones07 from Spain
4.7/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.7/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
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.
Apr 18, 2023After 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.
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington
4.3/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.3/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
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.
Mar 25, 2023
Trappist Westvleteren 8 (VIII) from Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)
Beer rating:
99 out of
100 with
2399 ratings
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