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

 

 

 

330 ml bottle in Liers. Pours brown with a foamy off white head. Aroma is off dark fruit, cherries, caramel malt. Body is full and smooth. Taste is of caramel malt, dark fruit, herbal hops and broen sugar. Long dry finish. Nice brew.

 

Pours a dark brown with lots of carbonation. Carbonation leads to good amount of tan head, however that fades pretty quickly. Nose is sweet and slightly pungent like dried fruits. Taste is also sweet and bounces across the palate from the carbonation. Nice malty flavor as well as dark dried fruits. Nice bitterness on palate.

A lot of licorice and tobacco. Notes of figs, dark chocolate, roasted malts, brown sugar, and raisins. Hints of cherries, and nuts. Delicious.

 

Review: 2482
Name: 8
Brewer: Trappist Westvleteren
Location: Westvleteren, Belgium
Style: Dubbel
ABV: 8%
Canned: Best By 22 November 2026
Date: 27 August 2025
I'm excited to try this beer; I had 12 of them several years ago, and they didn't disappoint. I am using a chalice and serving at a serving temperature of 48 degrees. The pour created a frothy, creamy, one-fingered head with excellent retention—the somewhat slow dissipation left thick lacing on the glass. The color is brown with a ruby garnet hue, charting at SRM 26, and semi-opaque. The overall appearance of the beer is above average.
Nosing the beer, I detect notes of stone fruit, cherries, toasted malty sweetness, chocolate, caramelized sugar, raisins, plums, banana, toasted bread crust, white pepper, cloves, yeasty phenols, and some earthiness. The beer smells delicious.
Sipping the beer, I immediately get toasted bread, malty sweetness, bananas, white pepper, cloves, yeasty phenols, plums, caramelized sugar, chocolate, light coffee, cherries, and a light nuttiness.
The mouthfeel is soft, finishing smooth. The body is medium, with medium-high carbonation.
Final Thought: I am not judging this beer by the hype; however, the publicity behind Westvleteren beers is warranted. The best Dubbel beer that I have ever tried. The flavors are spot on, adhering to the style guidelines. I wish I had several more of these beers to sip on.

 

Copenhagen 27/5 2018. 33 cl bottle from Den Belgiske Ølbutik, Jyllingevej, Vanløse. A bottle of its own distinct design. No label but blue cap where I can see that this is a Westvleteren 8.

Pours very dark brown with big off-white head. Settles as 3 cm thick blanket of fluffy foam. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is a little subdued due to the massive amount of foam. But it gets stronger as the beer warms up. Aroma is sweetish with caramel, sugar, lightly roasted malts, humid cellar and damp old newspapers.

Medium carbonation. Medium thick texture.

Flavor is (only) medium sweet. Followed by a quite strong bitterness with an acidic hint. Aftertaste is bitter. Lingering.

Always hard to form an opinion on such a celebrity beer. I like the balance between the sweet and the bitter and I am surprised of the lightness of the beer. Especially the well balanced flavor hits the mark (and my taste buds).

RB txfr

Got a bottle from Sterk Amsterdam, and drank it on the first day of 2025. It surely does not disappoint! A lot of dark fruit and bread taste, followed by some maltiness.

 

Poured from a 330mL bottle into a Westvleteren XII chalice. Pours a murky and dull amber with almost two fingers of khaki colored foam head. I cracked this one real close to room temp and I’m getting alcohol, dark bread and some dark fruits on the nose. The alcohol isn’t crazy strong but it’s there. The taste follows but even has hints of chocolate but mostly dark bread and subtle dark fruits. Really good though and quite complex. Made with care. Full mouthfeel. A hearty beer but quite drinkable. Really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

Poured from a 11.2 ounce bottle into a chalice glass, the date on bottle is "22/11/26" which I understand to mean is November 22, 2026. The brewery recommends drinking within 3 years of bottling so his means the beer was bottled on or about November 22, 2023. I purchased this as part of a mixed six pack from Westvleterenshop.com for USD $203.51, beer $139.00, shipping $52.99, tax $11.52. I purchased on 6-19-24 and received just eight days later in the mail on June 27, 2024.

APPEARANCE: pours a dark brown color with one-finger tan head that slowly dissipated until a thin, unbroken layer of small bubbles remained, heavy lacing on the glass, medium carbonation.

SMELL: the nose is spectacular, cola, bread, dark fruits like fig and raisin, very complex.

TASTE: the taste follows the nose, initially bread and sweet cola then dark fruits like raisin and fig, the taste really lingers on the palate in a most positive way, the 8% alcohol is completely disguised.

PALATE: medium carbonation but full bodied.

OVERALL: I liked this better than Westvleteren 12, the alleged "best beer in the world", for Dubbel I still prefer Chimay, this is probably the second best Dubbel I have had, I don't know if I'll ever go to to Belgium but if I do will be sure to purchase this again, it's not worth what I paid but it's just money and cheaper than flying to Belgium, that's what I'm telling myself :)