Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Brasserie de Rochefort

Jason

Massachusetts

4.8/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 33 cl slender brown bottle, consume before date on the front label. “Authentic Trappist Product” on the label.

Appearance: Fluffy light tan lace foams up during pouring but the lace struggles to hold together. Murky brown colour with a hazy that blocks out any chance of light.

Smell: Mild rum alcohol in the nose, fruity with ripe banana, pear and fig. Vague phenols with mellowed out alcoholic esters give a hard whiff of alcohol again.

Taste: Silky smooth, creamy alcohol and malt mouth feel that glides through the mouth and down the throat. Grain, phenols and alcohol form to a head at first taste with a spicy character that does not take things over but is more of a showing of what is in store. Maltiness is close to huge going from brown sugar to brownies, dark bread to mild coffee. Alcohol runs the gamete with a sweet and spicy flavour to a fruitiness of ripe tropical fruit … fig and apricots come to mind. Phenolic but not to the point of being medicinal, clove spiciness rounds and balances the sweetness far into the finish.

Notes: Hard line in the aroma and flavour with a mellowed aged flavour from a bottle that has been around for a while, this age has not taken way from the beer at all other than its head retention perhaps. Ripe and fruity, malty and alcoholic. The complexity alone is staggering for the taste buds.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2002 00:11:33 | More by Jason

MrKennedy

Australia

4.14/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

330ml bottle, into a Mikkeller wine glass.

Pours a true brown with a long lasting tan head of foam. Bits of lacing.

Smells of stewed plums and figs with a nice earthiness about it. Some spice as well, but pretty faint, though that isn't a bad thing.

Getting the figs and plums coming through along with a touch of cinnamon & allspice. Well integrated, the spice helping cut up the fruit a touch.

Smooth, moderate body. Fruity fullness at the front and a little spice later on. Sort of balances being a slow sipper if you want, but happy to keep coming back if you want to have a few.

Very fruity. Fortunate to have some spice around to balance it out. Been a while since I've had this and the bottle has aged well. Should drink more often, especially for the value for money.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2013 10:25:17 | More by MrKennedy

mrchrisray

New York

4.25/5  rDev -2.1%

06-18-2013 17:30:35 | More by mrchrisray

AugustusRex

Ontario (Canada)

4.75/5  rDev +9.4%

06-18-2013 13:21:27 | More by AugustusRex

lucasj82

Indiana

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%

06-18-2013 01:30:27 | More by lucasj82

joaopmgoncalves

Portugal

4.73/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Notes: Got it in the first week of April. It was in the cellar since then.

A: Light brown colored body. High carbonation resulted in big beige head but the lace was weak.
S: Fig is the thing. But there's also some hidden citrus.
T: Noticed the caramel notes, the coffee bitterness and lots of stuff I can't recognize. It's complex in tasting matters.
M: Its high carbonation gives it a smooth and creamy feeling all around your mouth. For a 9.2 ABV beer, the alcohol is almost unnoted. What an incredible beer.
O: In my personal opinion, it's awesome. By far the best beer I've ever had until this date. But I'm sure that the Trappistes Rochefort 10 that I have on the cellar will get me into heaven anytime soon.

Serving type: bottle

06-17-2013 21:58:44 | More by joaopmgoncalves

yancot

Ontario (Canada)

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%

06-17-2013 04:41:46 | More by yancot

ChrisL24481

New Hampshire

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%

06-16-2013 20:23:34 | More by ChrisL24481

gloryhole

Ontario (Canada)

4.75/5  rDev +9.4%

06-16-2013 17:34:31 | More by gloryhole

TheBeeraholic

Ontario (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev -2.1%

06-16-2013 17:05:32 | More by TheBeeraholic

adityashekhar

India

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%

06-16-2013 10:13:38 | More by adityashekhar

cdl

California

4/5  rDev -7.8%

06-16-2013 03:44:35 | More by cdl

KrisDLSmith

Ontario (Canada)

5/5  rDev +15.2%

06-16-2013 03:35:06 | More by KrisDLSmith

anson42

California

4/5  rDev -7.8%

06-16-2013 01:28:43 | More by anson42

Noelito76

New York

4.5/5  rDev +3.7%

06-15-2013 13:00:09 | More by Noelito76

tuka

New York

4.25/5  rDev -2.1%

06-15-2013 03:58:46 | More by tuka

IchLiebeBier

Virginia

5/5  rDev +15.2%

06-15-2013 00:09:22 | More by IchLiebeBier

Canada_Dan

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -2.1%

06-14-2013 01:48:07 | More by Canada_Dan

TheDoctor

Quebec (Canada)

4.74/5  rDev +9.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

A:
Pours a murky, orangish brown. Cloudy with hunks of yeast and uniformly pretty. Has a beautiful creamy tan head that maintains perfect thickness and has sexy uniform lacing.

S:
Funky blue cheese, some doughy yeast notes. Nice underlying boozy sweetness. Overall smells good and is quite complex.

T:
Dry and nutty. Really creamy and delicious. Has a tinge of strong cheese just like the nose but is otherwise a lot earthier with some really stong, warm, smooth nut flavors along with chocolate and coffee.

M:
Soft and warm (from the high ABV, I assume) with pleasant carbonation and a creamy medium body. Extraordinarily long, pleasing finish.

O:
Tastes like the water out of an enchanted swamp. Gross and scummy and muddy and stanky and fabulous. Really nice looking. Smells delicious and teases you. Tastes delicious but not quite what you'd expected. Looks like a picture. Tastes like a dream.

Give 'er a quick flick of the wrist and watch the head pop right up to give you a perfect drink every time. No doubt I'd have it again but first I have to find the 10 and 12.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2013 22:45:06 | More by TheDoctor

Madubz

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -7.8%

06-13-2013 09:42:03 | More by Madubz

Kyrojack

Indiana

2.5/5  rDev -42.4%

06-12-2013 22:37:05 | More by Kyrojack

dwren89

Virginia

4.75/5  rDev +9.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Appearance: deep brown/mahogany, off white fizzy head, hazy

Aroma: dark fruit, molasses, fig, malty sweetness,

Taste: dark fruit, molasses character, but not in a cloying way, malt sweetness but balanced by more hop bitterness than Straffe Hendrik, not as deep in flavor and character as the 10, but quite drinkable

Mouthfeel: lighter on the palate, medium body, medium carbonation

Overall Impression: a more drinkable version of the 10 with only slightly less flavor. Same flavors as the 10 though. Dark fruit, molasses, and fig notes pervade with solid hop bitterness rounding out the flavor to counteract the malt bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 21:27:48 | More by dwren89

Dreizhen

Georgia

4.18/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a bottle into a chalice.

Appearance: Dark brown, caramel. Thick head that lingers.. Good carbonation.

Smell: Dark fruits, malt, chocolate, slight bitterness. Made me think baked cherries.

Taste: Warm chocolate initially with a dark fruit finish. Middle is slightly lacking in flavor, but the chocolate lingers and the fruit starts to kick in. A pleasant tinge of bitterness towards the end.

Mouthfeel: Heavy, smooth, a little foamy. Silk. Good carbonation.

Overall: A very good beer. I've based my rankings on three different bottles and I think my overall impression has gone down since I tried a bottle of the 10. Still fantastic and worth trying, especially if you're in Belgium where it can be found dirt cheap.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 18:01:40 | More by Dreizhen

vcoggins

Texas

3.64/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

11.2 oz bottle
Served in a tulip glass

A - Pours cloudy brown with an off-white 1 finger head that dissipates quickly and leave no lacing.

S - Smells of sweetness and raisins, but there is also an underlying tartness there. Like a wine or very light vinegar. Alcohol is noticeable but not overpowering

T - Sweet dark fruit with very little hops if any. But there is that tart, sour, vinegar undertone again. As with the nose the alcohol is not hidden but not too strong.

M - Highly carbonated almost like Champagne. Thin body with a dry finish.

O - This beer is good but not what i expected. The tart nose and taste kind of threw me. For the price this is not a beer I will seek out in the future.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 02:09:59 | More by vcoggins

spoony

Colorado

4.45/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

From a 330 ml bottle into a chalice (two bottles were reviewed, one had a code stamp reading: 250516)

A-The brew is an dark, walnut brown with hints of ruby. The head is nearly two-fingers tall and comprised of dense, tan foam. There is good retention thanks to the few streams of visible carbonation.

S-The smell is pretty aggressive with a fair amount of alcohol spice and dark rum flavors. Fruits are dark and dried, like prune, fig, dates, and raisins. Complex and nicely suited for the style.

T-The taste also gives a pretty good wallop of warming, medicinal alcohol, but the alcohol plays well with the dark, malty fruits. I taste molasses, dark rum, prune, raisin, and baking spices.

M-The long-lasting carbonation is more aggressive than some Belgians of this style, but the beer retains a medium to heavy body. The carbonation and heft are a nice match for the style and flavors.

O-I admit that it took me a while to come around to the aggressive alcohol in this brew, but now that I'm hooked in, I really enjoy it. The dark fruit and burnt sugar flavors are spot on for a BSDA and complexity is fantastic. This is a great sipping beer that seems tailor-made to pair with some cheese and dried fruits.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 01:57:02 | More by spoony