Chimay 150 / Spéciale Cent Cinquante

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Baileux, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle from SB cons 2012-09-22 Lysekil AR: banana foam, pear split, belgian yeast - very much sweeties AP: cloudy honey, frothy of white head, wee wee lacings F: soft fizziness, banana foam, wee pear, belgian yest, desert beer

75 cl. corked and caged bottle split by two. Not the biggest fan of the Chimay although they are certainly not bad and the refterbeer is pretty damn good. Still any new trappist beer is still a happening. Bit of an odd bottle I feel, it is somewhat too transparent it feels and the green contrasts oddly with it but ok. It pours a bright golden with a fluffy white head. Smell is quite floral, esters, citrus, light banana, triple yeast, some white sugar, ça va. Taste is greatly influenced by the huge carb, this far too carbonated my dear and tastes a bit too much of cleaning products, although it dabbles as well in bitter herbs and fake citrus, rather herbal with some esters thrown in there, spices, bitter zest in the finish, small flourishes of banana in the beginning and an overriding weird spice-riddled triple yeast strain. Frankly a bit too much carb, cleaning products, manageable but not all that, that is for sure.

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Appearance is golden like hay, nice white head that retains itself nicely after a few minutes. The aroma is very pleasant, slight hints of honey or candied sugar, and then even fainter notes of apricot or peach. The hoppy florals are herby and spicy, and nicely pronounced with each whiff. My first taste cleared the palate. Alcohol was very noticeable but then faded. I was a little sad I didn’t notice anything else. Next drink, I really got the spices, particularly cardamom, possibly also coriander. With each following sip, the high alcohol level made itself known then tried to mask itself under the spices. In the end, it failed to balance the alcohol well enough. The mouth feel was excellent, bordering medium to full bodied. The bittering hops fought until the end with the other flavors and I was left with the finish of a complex and not altogether pleasing aftertaste. Fun to try, not worth the 13.5 euro I spent.

UPDATED: SEP 30, 2012 750mL from Cellier des Arcades. Seemed like quite a find, though it’s not cheap (but still cheaper than it would be in Ontario). Pours a nice deep gold with a huge whitish head. Kind of subdued, elegant aroma of typical Belgian pale malts, yeast, herbal hops, candied sugar. Flavour has a bit more going on, all of the above with a slight peppery hop presence that is nice. Apples feature well, and over-all this actually seems kind of generic, albeit very well done. I don’t feel the booze at all which is quite impressive considering the strength, then again maybe I’ve just become really accustomed to these types of beers by now. It still inspires me to drink more and more of it.

Pours dark golden. Its a bit hazy. Big fluffy white head. The smell is difficult to distinguish for a newbie like me - rather surprising with a 10% beer. A taste of typical belgian yeast where the strength is well hidden. Its for me a very neutral beer where I expected something else, although its a really nice beer.

Pours golden yellow, clear, with a fairly tall white frothy head. Aroma of belgian yeast, spices, coriander, bread and hay. Taste is distinctly alcohol sweet, with a slight bitterness. Finish is rather abrupt, apart from a lingering alcohol sweetness. Body is medium, with fairly high but pleasant carbonation. Overall pleasant but a little too sweet and boozy.

Sample at a tasting. It poured an almost clear yellow liquid with a white head. Frutiy smell with ripe fruit. Strong carbonation that hid the flavours at first. After a while the fruitiness appears out of the mist of carbonation. Decent, but Chimay has done better before.

Bottle (75 cl) from Systembolaget. Shady golden, medium to large white head. Bready and biscuity malt aroma with fruity esters, some pears and almond paste, subtle spicy notes and floral hops, some warming alcohol. Medium to full bodied, medium to high carbonation. Semi dry, medium bitterness. A pumped up Chimay Blanc.

Clear orange golden beer, big lasting white head. Aroma of malts, candy sugar, quite a bit of apricot, fruity, apple and banana. Rather sweet spicy flavour, light buttery texture , some apple. Overall reminding of apple pastry (appelflap). Fruity apricot notes. Quite creamy, finish banana, apricot and apple, some bitter notes with quite a bit of warming alcohol.
This just might be my favourite beer from Chimay. Nice!
(From 75cL bottle @ home)