Westvleteren Extra 8

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Share courtesy of Degarth. Courtesy of CigarCityBrew. Pours dark brown with some haziness to go along with a tan head. It has a big aroma of strawberries, raspberries, sweet rich Dr. Pepper notes and sugar drenched black currents. The taste is sweet and also tart with notes ranging from raspberry, strawberry, sweet dark grapes, plums, prunes and sugar coated apricots. It has a tart fruit edge to it. Seems a bit like Struise Pannepot, which is very good. All the flavor notes mix nicely and seem well melded.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Pours hazy chestnut with a nice buff head. Aroma presents woody, malty and pretzel tones. Flavor starts with malt and caramel, and earthy and woody notes come right behind. Mouthfeel presents good body and OK fizz. Not quite as Big Sister 12, but worthy.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

I had this side by side with the 12, stuck viscoisity meter into both, and from what I can tell, two beers with identical colour, identical aromas, identical body, and identical flavours. I have to give them identical scores.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

I had this beer out of the bottle at the Mikkeller bar in Copenhagen, Denmark. The bottle cap didn't have a stamp on it so I was unable to tell the age of the beer - I presumed it was relatively fresh. Bottom line, this beer was AMAZING. In fact, I think the fresh 8 is better than the fresh 12. The only reason the fresh 8 has a lower score than the 12 is b/c I have had a 5 year old aged 12 and that was INSANELY good. This beer had a WONDERFUL softness about it - very complex flavors of fig and hints of bananna. Little to no heat from the alcohol. A superb beer. Amazing. I have two sitting in my closet for enjoyment in about 5 years.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 8

Dark browne with small light brown foam head. Aroma is strong bittersweet, caramel. Taste is nice bitter with just enough sweet caramel. Long dry small bitter aftertaste. (Velp 201301)

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

C: solid brown, red edges, light brown head
A: candy sugar, plums, raisins, yeast
P: full bodied
F: sweet malt, fruit, molasses
O: In a lot of ways, this is similar to the 12, with everything dialed down a small notch

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

My wife gifted me a six pack of this for Christmas in 2011. Trademark unmarked bottle poured into a chalice - deep brown with a ton of carbonation. Familiar Westy scent - almost hard to describe but truly unique - earthy and deep with notes of raisins and dates. Truly amazing flavors with Belgian candy sugar being dominant while cold while raisins, figs, and dark fruits take note as the beer warms. Phenolic alocohol present and a earthy yeast lend to the finish. This is marvelous, and I like this almost as much as 12. It's superb!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

An outstanding Belgian. Aroma is a bit sour, probably the only detractor, other than that very solid. The mouthfeel is much lighter than 12, but flavor is quite similar. This was brought back by my good friend pfoxyjohn, can't thank you enough.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

July 26, 2012
Bar Volo (Toronto, Ontario, Canada – 587 Yonge Street)
330ml bottle
9.1% ABV (as written on bottle)
$41.75
The beer poured a translucent deep mahogany colour with a generous, long lived, tan coloured head. Plenty of effervescence to keep the head alive. Aroma is dark malt, sugar, plums, and licorice. Definitely a very sweet nose. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with plenty of carbonation. The flavour is sweet malt, dark fruit, yeast (and lots of it), some anise, and a bit of peppery spice. Not as good as the 12, but an outstanding beer all the same.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

A solid Belgian ale. I paid $24 US for this bottle, and have another cellared. Price isn't an issue with this ale, as it's marked up by the seller due to its rarity. The drink looks and smells great, but tastewise, it's not going to knock you over. It's just a straightforward, solid Belgian drink. I haven't yet tasted the Blonde or the quadrupel by Westvleteren. This is my first drink of what they offer, and I'm so glad I finally had it. Recommended to anyone seeking this out with a purpose.