Chimay Blue
Chimay Blue
Origin: Belgium
website: http://www.chimay.com/en/chimay_blue_220.php
Tried: 5th NOV 2009, dinner
With: Japanese handrolls
A Trappist beer is a beer brewed by or under control of Trappist monks. here’s a short intro from wiki. I learnt of this “genre” from Kennhyn who wanted to see if i could find Westvleteren .. pai sehh, no luck.. this is in fact pretty hard to come by.. but next time i will try to visit the abbey.. mm..
So I tried some in brussels of other brands and bought some back for “research”… hehe
This is a dark ale which is medium bodied.. not too bitter, in fact has bitter sweet taste that makes it rather distinct.. unlike some which are rather flat in body. it also thickens as you leave it in your glass.. and i like it better when it does not sit too long..
Or maybe my glass just wasn’t right.. there was a lot of emphasis that you must use the right glass for different beers in Europe.. and as poor me would have to break (or rob) the bank to have everything – I take the closest fit.. and a trappist glass is most similar to.. my water goblet… tada..
This is one of the better trappist that I have tried because of the unique bitter-sweet taste and smell that is a bit mm.. caramel-lish, cherry-ish (could be my imagination, hehehe) but it is in no way a girly drink because it is thick and strong and later i found out it has 9% alcohol.. pretty strong for a beer. 
If you like ales and stouts, and think you will like stout better when it is more flavourful, you will like this but if you like beers light and fresh, most probably not your kind of beer. 
and tring to drink this and eat 4 handrolls is a bad idea.. hahaha.. because this is a “filling” beer. More suitable to just stand on the bar, drink with your friends and a cold weathered day..
perfect..
I would say one of my fav dark ale. Thumbs up!
November 9th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Hmm… this beer is not suitable in Malaysia, because once it turn warm the high alcohol really kicks in. But the beer indeed very flavourful… have to drink it fast b4 it turn warm… cheers!
November 9th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
So how did it go with the food? how did it turn out?
November 9th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I agree with you, Chimay Blue is one of the great ones. I’d be interesting to hear your thoughts on the Chimay Brune (the Red) – as good as the Blue is I think that their Brune is even a better example of it’s style. What makes the Chimays all the more impressive is that they seem to export it very widely and thus they must produce it in reasonably high quantity. Many a microbrewer (let alone enclaves of Monks) had their quality go away when they ramped up quantity.
BTW, I think that the comment about the Blue being too extreme to for Malaysia’s (or Singapore’s, where I am) climate is fairly true. The Chimay Blue is the type of beer that really hits the spot after a day on the ski slopes, but I can’t really image drinking it while sitting around the pool on a sunny 30+ degree day. On the other hand, that might be one of the reasons that they invented air conditioning – so that you can enjoy Chimay Blue even in Malaysia & Singapore.
November 9th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
kennhyn: like what beer steward said- drink it in air conditioning, hehhehehe i think if you play drinking games with this.. it would be super popular at your house party… hahaha i am trying to imagine what bottoming up a few would do to you because of the thickness and alcohol.. puuhhhh
mj: it was ok, because it is very strong, i think it should go with mild food; just that i made too much handrolls so it was full from the beer and and temaki.. wah lauu..
beer steward: mm, i will try that next time, too may beer too little time.. i made 2 other reviews and waiting for our editor hahahha to approve. I only bought back 6 bottles.. just too much to carry
the force is weak in me, i am sorry. but now that u mentioned it, chimay red is next on my list.
in s’pore maybe try drinking it in a restaurant with traditional koren BBQ with coal and fresh meat with minimum seasoning.. and chimay on a rainy day… ooo.. that wouldn’t be bad..
November 9th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
how strong is it?
November 9th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Adeline,
I find beer preference versus climates to be an interesting thing. Definitely beer fans tend to think that the big bold beers (stouts, imperial IPA’s, trippels, etc.) are for cold the colder months in countries in which the summers are really hot and the winters are really cold. Yet there are exceptions to that. For instance, Sri Lanka (which has a climate about as hot as Singapore/Malaysia or maybe a little hotter) has a beer called Lion Stout which to me seems like Guiness Foreign Stout on steroids, and it sells petty well to working class Sri Lankans. The Lion Stout is pretty good strong stout actually, but that’s beside the point. Even in Singapore, at a lot of hawker centers out in the neighborhoods at night time you’ll see old men drinking Guinness Foreign Extra. When you talk to some of those guys, they tell you that they are actually lightweights compared to their fathers generation, some of them have told be that their Dad’s used to crack open a raw egg and pour it into the Guinness before drinking in. Supposedly that’s good for health (though actually it’s also 2/3rds of a drink that’s called an Irish Car Bomb in western pubs – Jamison is the other 1/3rd). On the other hand, in Ireland, where one would assume that “beer” would be synonymous with “Guinness”, American Budweiser (or all things) sells very well, especially to people under the age of about 45.
On the Chimay, I’m not sure that’s you’ll find a place in Singapore that has both Korean food and Chimay unless your planning to cook your own Korean food and source your Chimay from a supermarket. That’s possible to do, I suppose. At one time the Carrefour supermarkets were selling all 3 version of Chimay (White, Red, and Blue) at reasonable prices (by Singapore standards) but that seems to have disappeared from the shelves lately. Some of the Cold Storage & Jason Supermarkets sporadically have it on their shelves too (though at higher prices than Carrefour). Last time that I sighted it was at the Jason Supermarket in the basement of Raffles City; I think that it was about S$10 or S$11 for a small bottle of the Blue, maybe about S$8 for the Red. Personally though, I think that all the Chimay’s go best with “mussels in the shell” as a food pairing – I think that there are a couple of Belgian/Flemish restaurants in Singapore where you can order that pairing.
Sorry to ramble so much, but beer’s important.
P.S. to Liew: the Blue is 9% ABV in alcohol strength but it doesn’t taste like that if served at the proper temperate. The alcohol is quite well masked, I doubt that most people would guess that it was so strong unless that happened to have chugged a couple of them an fallen on their face.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
you basically explain everything… haha, but in Malaysia you can find Chimay Blue and Red for RM30. It’s very expensive here. Mussels will be a good pairing for sure… Cheers!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:47 am
At 9% ABV, you almost have to eat something along with the Chimay Blue! We love all the Chimays… in fact, the Blue might just be the best in terms of flavor – but the Trippel and Red are also very enjoyable.
A note on the glass… it *really* makes a difference when you drink it in a proper Chimay glass (or even a Tulip glass for that matter). Even the size of the glass will bring out different flavors and aromas. Also, you didn’t mention the temperature… but that makes a huge difference in what you can taste, too!
November 10th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
liew: try it, 9% is just a number. the taste is most important!
Beer Steward:mussels in the shell… wow.. that will be good… i wonder where can i get that here mmm… reminds me of the little creatures brewery down in freemantle, perth .. it was so nice with the beer, soupy mussels with rock salts.. i haven’t thought about this in ages.. and for the next few days i know what i will try and find… hahaha
thanks for your suggestion and feedback too, i am sure the visitors of this blog are all pretty serious about beer!! and its very nice to exchange ideas and suggestions. I have much to learn!!
some people see a pair of shoes and start imagining what cloths, bag, accessories will go with it.. i imagine what food and setting will be perfect when I drink something good… haha even if it is not so realistic, so please put up with me.
Mugsy and Jugsy: I must now try the Red just so that I can make up once and for all which i prefer better.. mmm..
i understand the glass thingee- but it is so though on $$ and space. I hope i don’t get killed for saying this but I am also a lover of wine and shooters.. so with the existing red wine glasses, white, champagne, schnapps, cocktail, i need to think carefully what is my next 6-er. most probably not the tulip as I don’t drink that much Trappist.. but either one of those Kölsch glasses or for Weizenbier.. at the moment i loan them from the office when I have a party.. sad.. but true.