Westvleteren 8

Well, I had one of these laying around and seeing as how I have that 3787 yeast I'm getting ready to use, I thought I'd try it out. The sediment got kicked up, which annoys me. Why it wasn't better compacted I have no idea...

It's very much in the same color range as Westmalle Dubbel. The nose is a little like the 12, but lighter. It has a similar tropical character (coconut rum; pina colada jellie-bellies; banana; a heady whiff of alcohol) with no real perceptible dark malt presence--which is good because it isn't supposed to have any dark malts in it. The palate, like the 12, seems sweeter than the beer actually is. It's enveloping and lean at the same time. It's also just a touch more bitter than a typical trappist beer in this color range--according to _Brew like a Monk_ it's 35 IBU's which is a reasonable high number. The palate is quite bewitching: bitter, sweet, and quite earthy all at the same time. The palate is also earthy, but lean and focused at the same time.