Bières de Chimay
Brewed by Bières de Chimay
Abbaye de Scourmont, Chimay, Belgium
Chimay is a Trappist Brewery produced at the Abbey of Our Lady of Scourmont, in the small town of Chimay, south west Belgium
It is one of six breweries in Belgium authorized to display the hexagonal Authentic Trappist Product logo guaranteeing that their products are made, on site, in a Trappist abbey, by or under the control of monks, operate as a non profit outfit and that part of the income from its marketing is devoted to charities.
In the summer of 1850, a small group of monks established a settlement on the wild plateau of Scourmont near Chimay. Around the monastery a farm, a cheese plant, a Church and Abbey came to be. Later using water drawn from the Abbey well, the monks started brewing in 1862. Today as one of the biggest Trappist breweries in the world, Chimay beers are now found all over the world, still operating out of the Scourmont Abbey under the supervision of the monks.
During World War II , the abbey was taken over by the Nazis who had the temerity to melt the brewing vats, the bastards! Luckily possession was restored after the War, but unfortunately the monks had to start everything afresh again as so much was destroyed.
This coincided with Father Théodore De Haene, in 1948, attending the University of Louvain where he learned beer making with Professor De Clerck. Together, they create the new brewer’s yeast for future Chimay beers. And the rest they say is history!
Their most well known beers are as follows….
• Chimay Bleue (brown – 9% Vol – 33 cl ), called Grande Réserve in 75 cl .
• Chimay Blanche (Triple) (blonde / amber – 8% Vol – 33 cl ), called Cinq Cents in 75 cl .
• Chimay Rouge (brown – 7% Vol – 33 cl ), called Première in 75 cl .
• Chimay Dorée (blonde – 4.8% Vol – 33 cl ), it is originally the table beer of the monks of the abbey.
• Chimay Bleue Aged in barrels (brown – 10%).
I got their most iconic bottles in a three pack, its red, white and blue collection, with a branded tulip-shaped glass and each bottle has been cellared for about 2 years.
Review: 0,33l bottle of Chimay Biere Triple, a Tripel Trappist Ale (Blanche/White): 8% vol.
Can come in 33l or 75l bottles, or on tap if you are lucky enough to be in Belgium, and only from about 20 or so elite hostelries after having met the brewery’s strict criteria! Named Cinq Cents in the 75l bottles
Has a massive score of 93 and with it an “Outstanding” remark, from a certain beer review site. I know this is bound to disappoint so, ha ha.
Chimay beer is neither filtered nor pasteurized, also its a high fermentation beer that re-ferments in the bottle.
Decent frothy head on the pour, all fine, white and creamy looking, with an amber golden colour to the beer. Looks pretty fine in the appearance.
Biggish frothy head. Amber colour. Fine creamy head. Looks ok.
The aroma has a very piercing smell, very strong on the nose, slightly citrusy and fruity esters, very strong, very yeasty with spicy hop aromas.
Onto the taste, oh wow, hit straight away with the taste, pretty hoppy for sure. That’s tough to stomach if I am honest. Earthy start, woody, barley malts from the beginning. Wheaty in the aftertaste too.
Sweet tastes from the malts, then the yeast and the bitter hops, not very enjoyable, kind of tastes like a bad medicine to take, with bubbles. Their is some sort of balance there between the sweet and the bitter, and there are a wide array of flavours, just I didn’t like all that very much!
Bitter tastes, urgh. Hoppy bite, very much so. Over more sips it becomes more manageable but its not very nice, not one to enjoy. Fruity tastes found, orange peel and citrus.
I know this is very popular, but fuck me I found it very hard to drink, and couldn’t enjoy it at all.
Yeasty, very strong in the taste, and the alcohol at 8% kicks you right in the bollix. Didn’t find any balance between the hops and yeast.
Not nice. Don’t like it, too harsh and not enjoying it at all. To all the fans sorry but I am just a regular beer drinker with a well worn out palate, simple tastes here, no pretensions, so the Belgian tripel’s are just not up my street…
Review: 0,33l bottle of Chimay Biere Brune, a Brown Ale (Rouge/Red): 7% vol.
Can come in 33l or 75l bottles but not on tap. Known as Première in 0.75l bottles, “Red Cap” in 0.33l. Bottle conditioned, in that Chimay Rouge is a high fermentation beer that re-ferments in the bottle, “beer fermented in the bottle”.
Another Chimay with a massive rating on that beer review site. Another “Outstanding” score.
Chimay Red (Brune) is the oldest of the Chimay Trappist beers, first brewed back in 1862, but after WW2 it had slight tweaks in the flavour but still remaining true to the old recipes.
Colour is of a dark brown appearance, with a very small dark chocolatey coloured tan head that didn’t fill the tulip glass which was a little disappointing, perhaps I didn’t pour it correctly.
Smell is piercing, the fruits, especially of apricots, attacking straight off the bat, but doesn’t last, also of sweet malts, and a yeasty aroma. Ok but light.
For the taste I am getting a very fruity flavour, light and not as hoppy as the Blue, more manageable for me anyway.
Getting caramel and brown sugar especially in the aftertaste, it lingers and hangs around on the tastebuds.
Their blurb states that this should taste of a “fruity taste accompanied by a slight bitterness”, I would say that’s spot on. Mild bitterness and lots of dark fruits. Yeast and sweet malts found in the taste too. A lot of malt in fact!
Still a light kick with the alcohol, feeling it after, bit light in the head after a couple of these bad boys.
Overall its ok, nothing amazing and to be honest I found it a little bit dull.
By the end of the beers they did start to grow on me a little more, and I can see how they could be nice to relax with over a long night. I might return, not sure!
Review: 0,33l bottle of Chimay Grande Réserve, a Strong Ale (Bleue / Blue) 9% vol.
Chimay Bleue which in the large 75 cl bottle is called “Grande Réserve, bottle conditioned.
And another high ranking beer from Chimay on the old beer review sites, scored as World class on one……. Jesus they are fairly popular alright!
On the pour, well fuck me, the carbonation is out of control, loads of it, not leaving a whole lot left in the glass to finish off when most of it is gone to the bubbles. FFS.
When it all settles, a massive froth and creamy white head appears, with a dark purple look, like a plum. Looks pretty good once it all calms down.
Very good lacing, all over the glass, expected what with all that foam.
Left the second one on the fridge for a bit to see if it made any difference to the pour. It did, much better on the pour, still though not getting the Chimay tulip glass full, which is a tad bit disappointing, and a much smaller head than the first bottle. Still creamy though and pitch black in colour. Looks very smart…
On the nose it is very, very fruity, getting a really nice aroma, very pleasant. Also hints of black currant/red berry/plums.
Yeasty and dark malts, with toffee and caramel, lovely. Nice on the nose.
Onto the taste, very, very sweet taste coming from the barley malts and caramel, also very hoppy, overly hopped, which I find pretty hard to digest. True to form, a Belgian sour. Also can get the dark fruits.
Later on it all goes a bit flat, and its another Belgian I can not seem to get acquainted with. Not enjoyable for me.
The yeast is also strong, hitting you near the end, bit light headed after these two bottles. I think if I had a good few of these in a pub I’d be off my head and I might even enjoy them! Very strong!
Bit dry in the mouth. Like a red wine, a hard hitting version. Fruity, plumy and cherry kind of taste. My mother, a big red wine drinker, loved this beer. A glass of wine, but stronger.
Taste is so so but top marks to kickability, powerful stuff. Overall, by the end I did get into it a little more and started to enjoy it, so perhaps I need a crate of them to sample next time, over a long evening. Have to revisit then, perhaps a good beer to get for a special one off celebration or for Christmas.
Launched in 1995, Dutch Gold is a low-cost, imported, pilsner lager beer sold exclusively to Ireland. Its damn popular, ranked as the third best selling beer in the country in canned form, after Budweiser and Heineken. Mainly due to its very cheap asking price, about a Euro a can, or traditionally “4 for 5” in a pack. Popular amongst students, the lower classes, and layabouts. Not a slight, I drink it myself, lol! 
The packaging on the cans have changed since the old days where it was pretty simple, now its all jazzed up but they kept the Iconic image of a Dutch man carrying a barrel on a blue can, mostly a bigger picture now and less gold. “Old Duchie”, what a beast of a man! 
Golden coloured beer, not a bad head, nice, white and frothy. For a cheap lager it looks pretty damn good. Some small carbonation on the go. Good lacing. Looks fine. 
The abbey was well known for giving shelter for pilgrims and lost souls and also providing nice home-brewed beer to warm peoples spirits. The recipes used by the brewery today is apparently the same recipe used all those years back, over 900 years old and counting!
The beer has the mythological Phoenix as its symbol, and when you know the story it is not hard to see why. Grimbergen Abbey, founded way back in 1128, was destroyed by fire three times, but from the ashes the abbey was rebuilt again and again, and is still standing today. Burned but not destroyed (“Ardel Nec Consumitur”) is the motto of the legendary beer.
Smell is of strong strawberries and cherries. Very nice, oh man it is very good on the nose, very pronounced. Love it.
Good enough game to watch, Neymar dictating the play up front, and Willian bombing it down the wing all evening, with Paulinho bossing the midfield. Too easy for Brazil. But Javier Hernández your haircut is dead cool, heh? Clown.
No problems, nothing to worry about here, Belgium got one back, Vertonghen got a goal with a looping header that beat everybody. Still the Japanese goalkeeper should have had his eyes on it, clown. Once that went in, it was obvious that Belgium would get a second. And sure enough Fellaini got the equalizer with a simple header, two all. Game on.
But once again Belgium struck on the counter, with a superb goal by De Bruyne shooting to the corner from just outside the box, what a great goal from a very classy player. This was starting to look worrying for Brazil, 2 down inside half an hour. It was all from a qucik break from a Brazilian corner, Lukaku doing most of the running to by pass midfield and give it to Keven to work his magic. 
By the end Belgium hung on, just about. I have to say i take my hat of to Martinez, their a manager, he has them well coached, and every players knows exactly what they have to do on the pitch, a really well drilled operation. Plus it looks like they are enjoying their football too, which always helps. As for Brazil, just not good enough really and Neymar will come away from this World Cup with some egg on his face, as he is mostly now remembered for his rolling and moaning all over the world. Embarrassing. 
Leaving out Inui was crazy, relying on the score of the other game was a big decision and a really foolish one at that. 
With news coming through that Colombia were beating Senegal, Japan knew they were through by virtue of having less yellow cards, and Poland were happy to get the three points, so the last ten minutes was played at a walking pace with both teams mutually deciding to stop playing football. A bit surreal but there you go.
Started off pretty slow. Januzaj though shaked it up, scoring with a cracker of a goal, a lovely long range effort that flew in. 
Against England the Tunisians were quite dirty and physical, and they are the type of team that will offer up loads of frees. Step forward De Bruyne, a man who knows how to hit them. he was so close in the first game, I expect him to get it right this time. 
After the first goal went in Belgium started to play a bit more freely and with more confidence, as the heads dipped a bit for Panama.
Three nil is all good and well for Belgium but I saw a lot of flaws in this game today that would make me very concerned if I was a Belgian fan. One thing that can’t be excused was that Eden Hazard couldn’t give a simple pass all game, well apart from setting up the one goal, he must have lost the ball a million times in the game. He can afford to do that against Panama but will be severely punished if he does that shit v Spain or Portugal for example. And you wonder on why the manager didn’t take him off. I would begin to wonder about Martinez there.
It was a very cynical and dirty Tunisian team who tried to disrupt the play of England all game. They slowed down the game, took their time over frees and throw ins, and players had severe cramp a couple of times. Also for corners they wrestled Kane to the ground time and time again. I will be amazed if they escape the World Cup without a red card! Tunisia might be lucky to get a draw with a similar performance against Belgium today, perhaps, but I doubt it!
Belgium started with much more intensity, and I guess after looking at the England game, they knew that if they get at Tunisia from the get go they might crumble early. And so they did, very early in fact, after about 6 minutes, with Hazard getting and scoring a penalty. We didn’t have to wait long for the next one, ten minutes in fact, for Lukaku to score a nice goal that was well set up. 
Tunisia got one back, but they were never at the races today. Belgium looked good, particularly De Bruyne quietly going about his business behind the forwards, making most of the build up play and assisting in a few of the goals for today. Also for me, Vertonghen in central defence has had a good world cup so far, marshaling his back four very well, a good rock at the back. Belgium got their goal ratio way up today and knowing that a draw against England should be enough to qualify as leaders of the Group. 
With the relativity inexperience of the Panamanian team, up against some serious heavy hitters in a strong Belgian team, a team used to playing on the big occasion, I feel that we might actually get a goal fest today. We could do with some goals, as the last few days have only seen games with a goal or two. So come on Belgium please put on a show for us.
Not long after Hazard someone manages to pass a ball (was difficult for him today) and sets up Lukaku with a chance to score, which he does with a lovely deft little chip over the goalie. A well worked goal.
Three nil is all good and well for Belgium but I saw a lot of flaws in this game today that would make me very concerned if I was a Belgian fan. One thing that can’t be excused was that Eden Hazard couldn’t give a simple pass all game, well apart from setting up the one goal, he must have lost the ball a million times in the game. He can afford to do that against Panama but will be severely punished if he does that shit v Spain or Portugal for example. And you wonder on why the manager didn’t take him off. I would begin to wonder about Martinez there. 
