Achel Trappist Extra - Brouwerij der St. Benedictusabdij de Achelse

Rastacouere

Quebec (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Dark brown, reddish hints. Good-sized sticky off-white head. Very malty aroma, good yeast dose. Very fruity (dates, grapes), but also has various other malty tones (chocolate, caramel). Gentle alcohol vapors. Rather acidic taste in a yeasty-fruity kind of way. More dates and green grapes. Achel yeast doesn’t provide any dryness. Sweet and closing to licorice at times. Honeyish, herbal. Mostly malty from the beginning until the end. Finish could use some punch. Highly carbonated, medium bodied. It’s just not very exciting and feels like it has been done already.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2004 15:09:45 | More by Rastacouere

DARIVA

Netherlands

3.53/5  rDev -18.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Perfect amber beer with a beautiful head.

S: The smells are not really recognizable, something sweet.

T: The taste is slightly sweet beer.

M: Delicious carbonation and a good foam feeling.

O: Not easily drinkable, beer with a bitter aftertaste.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2012 11:05:09 | More by DARIVA

xylophonica

Australia

3.5/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 75cl bottle into a chalice.

A - Dark ruby-brown colour. Minimal head.

S - Slight nutty & caramel aromas.

T - Sweet cacao flavours with a hint of nuts. Actually quite sweet, but with a fairly typical smooth bruin taste.

M - Sweet on the palate.

D - Pleasant to drink without being overly mindblowing.

I'd only ever had Achel once before and it was the blonde. This bruin was ok but really kinda average given the high standard I expect of Trappist ales.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2010 11:33:50 | More by xylophonica

RenoZymurgist

Nevada

3.45/5  rDev -20%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured an opaque dark brown color with a tan head that had small bubbles. The head was fairly sticky.
The aroma began with a dry spicy character that had a touch of an alcoholic warmth in the finish.
The Flavor began with a sweet malt flavor that dominated the profile blending in with the spiciness but taking over in the finish. This is one of the sweeter examples of the style that i have tried yet it is still drinkable. The finish is clean and the spicyness lingers a bit leaving a fruity taste on the tongue.
Average drinkabiliy due to the sweetness this is nonetheless an excellent Trappist ale.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2008 05:37:07 | More by RenoZymurgist

Brunite

Illinois

3.4/5  rDev -21.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: A rich dark mahogany color. The largest head I have ever had with a beer. My tulip glass filled and I had enough to fill a second.

Smell: Most some syrupy dark cherry smell. Pretty one dimensional for me.

Taste: Same thing. Dark sour cherry. Maybe some unsweetened dark fruits. Not mind blowing.

Mothfeel: Medium body...carbonation stays in check.

Drinkability: Good but not great. Not my favorite Trappist.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2011 21:17:34 | More by Brunite

BrewMaster

California

3.33/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Poured from the capped bottle to a 25 oz crystal sniffer glass. The color is a clear muted red with brownish hues. The carbonation is even and smooth throughout the glass. The off-white head is rich and sticky and about 2 cm thick. Very nice retention and when it does thin out just a tiny bit of swirling revives the head to full force. Nice creaminess and lacing.

Smell: Vinous, malty, toffee, burnt sugar, crushed figs and raisins, tart fruit flesh, and a bit of floral and toasty malt. The nose on this is potent.

Taste: The flavor on this beer is quite turbulent. The sweetness dominates this beer in an uncomfortable way. It's insanely sweet to the point of cloying. Caramel and more crushed fruits. Figs and truffles with some fresh grass and a phenolic character all show up. But in this bare-knuckles ass kicking contest, the syrupy sweetness is the one with the lead pipe. All of the other flavors bow down to the syrupy sweetness before they are slaughtered. It's a gruesome affair. There is no hop contribution or bitterness in the flavor. The malt flavors are light and toasty but nearly non-existant. Alcohol wamrth finishes the beer. The flavor is good but very unbalanced.

Mouthfeel: Very creamy and thick, medium to full bodied with a sandy and syrupy ending.

Drinkability: Good but too damn sweet. I can't drink this anymore. Everything is overpowered by that fruity sweetness. It ends up being an over the top, overdone, big bottle of sweetness without much enjoyable depth.

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2005 15:16:51 | More by BrewMaster

nick76

Florida

3.28/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The aroma has cola, alcohol, caramel malt, flowers, and a little yeast. The appearance is light brown with a large foamy head. The flavor is sweet and astringent with all the elements from the aroma plus wood. The palate is really thin. As a quad this is not all that it should be. It's thin and unusual. This is one of those beer that's sweet and full bodied but not great.

Serving type: bottle

11-11-2008 06:16:09 | More by nick76

SFLpunk

Vermont

3.1/5  rDev -28.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

Purchased at Bruisin' Ales, Asheville, NC. $16.50. 750mL green glass capped champagne bottle. Side label says Best Before End 16 M(arch) 12. Opened at 57 degrees (my cellar temp).

Pours a crackly thin medium reddish brown with lighting fast tan head. Nose immediately smells like skunky Euro hops (green glass!) but it blows off a little. Very perfumed smelling with some candied fruit notes and a lot of wild flowers/lily notes. Some pale caramel aromas sneak through.

Palate is very light and surprisingly crisp. Very low carbonation, almost none really. Some thin caramel notes, a sugary candy-like sweetness, something like orchids, and there's definitely some pilsner malt in there. Hops are flowery and not bitter at all.

Notes: Not impressed with my first Achel experience. I was expecting this to be a lot bigger in body and mouthfeel, but found it to be rather thin and watery/flabby. Like the second runnings of something like Cuvee van de Keizer Blauw. It's sweet without the usual malt-body to justify the residual sugar level and the lack of carbonation is concerning. Tastes rather like sweet tea. Bad bottle?

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2010 04:10:09 | More by SFLpunk

brystmar

New York

2.83/5  rDev -34.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Sat on this bottle for about a year. Best before 3/16/2012.

Dirty brown body, thin tan head & lace with big bubbles. Ugly, to be honest.

Aroma is super sweet & bready, which is offsetting to my senses. Aged hops and Belgian candi sugar join the above in the flavor. Figs, plums, other dark fruits. Again, way too sweet for my liking.

Pretty sure my distaste for this brew isn't due to the extra time on the bottle -- minimally attributable, at most. Lacks the depth, spice, and overall complexity of its Trappist siblings.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2012 19:51:51 | More by brystmar

sinstaineddemon

Connecticut

2.15/5  rDev -50.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

btw, this was a blind taste test

geez, i hope i reviewing the right beer, my bottle has the same label as the smaller stuff, but the specs match with this one. the 9.5% ABV and such. this IS the Extra, so i think it is, anyway...

A - a dark black that reveals a hazy brown when held up to the light, with 1 1/2 finger of tan rocky head, after a few swirls, a banana aroma is released

S - a hoppy nutty aroma, sweet like darker fruits, maybe rasins

T - these dark fruit characteristics are maintained in the flavor as well, as is the nuttiness, not to fond of this, too bitter for me, and the sweetness is not balanced well and too dark

M - eh, im not impressed, too dar sweet and bitter, not well balanced

D - low, i couldnt finish it very easily, wasnt too fond of it. quality brew, with decent flavor, but the balance didnt agree with me

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2006 01:27:29 | More by sinstaineddemon