St.Bernardus Prior 8 0,75

Between 1946 and 1992 the beers of the Sint-Sixtus abbey in Westvleteren were brewed by the St. Bernardus brewery. In 1992 production reverted to the abbey of Westvleteren.

This means that the recipes for the St. Bernardus Prior 8, Pater 6 and Abt 12 go all the way back to 1946. And to this day, these abbey beers are brewed using the original Westvleteren yeast. This yeast is retrieved from previous brews and topped-up regularly with fresh yeast.

Over the years the brewers have fine-tuned the original recipes and one of the key ingredients of these beers is time.

Thanks to the long period in cold storage – up to eight weeks – the beers tend to be very full in the mouth.

There is a striking balance between malt flavours, fruitiness and sweetness enhanced by a very long and pleasant finish.

Although the St. Bernardus Prior 8 is quite a bit lighter in alcohol than its big brother, the St. Bernardus Abt 12, it still manages to pack a punch.

St. Bernardus Prior 8 fits into the tradition of dark abbey beers of the dubbel type. Originally the term dubbel was used to indicate a doubling of some raw ingredients in the brewing mash. These days a dubbel is a strong dark, sweet or bitter beer.