Chimay Bleue (Blue) / Grande Réserve

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Baileux, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Served in the new goblet..dark murky mahogany big brown colour, better than average lacing, good puddle of constent head foam....bananna’s -fruit -roastiness -bitter off fruit -leather =aromas.... alchol is masked completely...delicously nice+mellow yet fiercly magical brew..

0,33L bottle. Vintage 2006, (enjoy by 2011). Dark brown pour, dark tan head, very muddy appearance. Aroma of dark fruit and deep caramelized sugar. lots of dates. Flavor has a nice touch of chocolate, date sugar, toasted cereal. Hint of oats. finishes dry with a suttle carbonation. distant flavor of dark malt with banana fruitiness. Superb. Trappist.

UPDATED: FEB 4, 2007 Beer 16 and the final brew of the night at O’brien’s Trappist Tasting 2/3/07. From a 2005 dated magnum. Pours dark brown with almost no light penetrating. No head, and a very light aroma, sweet strong taste. Its a good beer but really not very memorable in comparison to other trappists.

Dark brownish colour with no head.Aroma is sweet and fruity with smooth well balanced mouth feels.Flavor of brown sugar and raisins.Vinous and soft finish.

UPDATED: MAY 27, 2009 A 2005 bottle in Reims. My first strong Belgian. Vinous and fruity, ruby brown with a tan head. Malty, warming, and complex with a creamy mouthfeel. Wouldn’t mind a taller bottle. [3.8]

Long-overdue re-rate in late May 2009, this one from a fresh bottle. Sweet malty nose, clearly Belgian yeast. Floral with some mineral water. Dark amber-mahogany pour with a highly-carbonated sudsy (and noisy!) tan head. Taste is very firmly bitter in addition to the sweet malt. Mineral water and lightly metallic rocky notes are too strong. Medium-fullish body, slippery malt profile, feel is strongly carbonated, dries out. Plums and figs/raisins, a great little synergistic effort from the little guys. Lightly warming but well-integrated and structured, and I’d have had no idea this was a niner. I’d to this again expecting to knock it down a peg or two, but darn, she’s still a winner! [3.7]

33cl bottle Nose of malt and plums, hazy, dark copper with a medium, but short-lived beige head. Flavor has caramel malts, plums, and spice. The 9% is very well covered.

UPDATED: MAY 22, 2007 Dark amber color with a medium head. Roasted malt really comes through. Plenty of sweetness in the shadow of dark fruit. I personally prefer the Chimay White, but this is an excellent, darker alternative.

sampled at blind "Better Know a Style: Belgian Strong Ale" tasting 07. pours a good size white head and a nice amber color. looks tasty. nose has lots of dark candy sugar, some plum and caramel, and pretty yeasty. flavor is very sweet with yeast and pear. mouthfeel is lively but a pretty hot finish. a surprise unanimous let down at the tasting.

The Budweiser of Belgian Trappist Ales...ok, that’s selling it short, but this beer is everywhere. Taste is Belgian yeast, dark fruit, and a little sweet malt. Nice complexity. Medium-bodied, tending a little towards the full side.

Bottle looks simple, but good. Beer in the glass dark, not black. Malty-alcoholic aroma. Starts heavy-malty, intense, again a bit alcoholic-soapy, fruity like raisins. Finish warming, well balanced, but still a bit too alcoholic. Good beer, but not more.