Chimay Bleue (Blue) / Grande Réserve

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Baileux, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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UPDATED: MAY 4, 2011 May, 2002: 1 year old bottle. Nestles milk with melon juice and a dash of port in a sodastream bottle. Intensely sweet with the warm impact of a high alcohol content. Very rough fizz-bomb. [2.7]
Nov, 2002: 18 month old bottle. At room temperature it displays its best features, but unfortunately also its worst. Slightly chilled the buzz and the alcohol are reduced so the beer becomes more harmonised, but then it just becomes a muddy sludge. [2.9]
Sept, 2004: Murky reddish brown appearance that only a mother could love. Pleasant Belgian aroma - spicy dough and nougart. Mouthfeel is difficult - there’s a pleasant creamy carbonation which melts and fades, leaving a pleasant tingle. Hmm. I think I like that mouthfeel. I would like a bit more firmness. And I’m not a fan of carbonation - but this is interestingly tingly. It’s a pleasant tasting beer, and the flavours are more harmonised, pronounced and balanced when the beer is at a cool rather than cold temperature. But even when the flavours are displayed at their best they are muddled and murky with a number of off flavours like plastic and parsnips along with the licorice and chocolate notes. The balance between sweet and bitter is interesting - mostly sweet, and sometimes intensely so, there are moments of assertive bitterness in the finish. Alcohol is noticeable - but it’s warming and gentle. I enjoyed drinking this - there is an attractiveness about this beer despite the flaws. [3.2]
March, 2005: Two year old bottle. Initially very sweet. The mouthfeel is loose - the carbonation is so fine that it never gets a grip. At this point it’s all about a candy sweetness and some vanilla yeast. Pleasant, but sort of babyish. When carbonation has burnt off, there are bitter notes more apparent. The bitterness is certainly more obvious at colder temperatures. There are nice flavours here (chocolate, coconut, licorice, alcohol, caramel), but there is a lack of integrity, lack of balance, lack of finesse which prevents this from being totally enjoyable. [3.1]
Nov, 2007 Compared with Brakspears Triple this doesn’t hold up at all. The Triple is tasty, subtle, complex and interesting. This is simply murky, muddled, candy sweet and fizzy with an ugly alcohol presence. None of that is to say that I dislike the beer, but that it’s not my first choice off the shelf, and drinking it is not the pleasurable experience you’d hope for. Some Band Aid, something numbing, and something odd. You gotta love the character of the beer - it certainly is a talking point. But it doesn’t add up to much in the final analysis. [2.9]
May, 2011 Each time I try this the story is the same. It’s pleasant in parts, but has its weaknesses, and overall doesn’t impress as a quality product. I mean, it’s drinkable stuff, and it’s OK, but it’s not a beer I want to rush back to. The alcohol is too obvious, the carbonation is all over the place, it burns a bit, it’s too yeasty and chalky, and the flavours don’t meld or balance each other- they’re there, but there’s no harmony. You can get good flavours out of it, but they’re not impressive flavours - they’re just decaying fruit, spice, sugar, musk etc - something different each time. Flavours yes, but most stuff has flavours. It’s how the flavours meld and impress and delight that matters. I don’t know which I prefer - red or blue.... [3.0]

Many flavors here that are fighting for attention. Dried fruits, toffee, caramel and a pleasant bitterness. Recommended!

Hazy Brown, cloudy, lovely full and persistent head, firm bubbles. Yeast, caramel and fruits (figs) on the palate its broad, creamy full on with good length and well integrated bubbles which refresh nicely, add weight and volume. Lovely!!

An old favourite, from long before my beer interest reached its current level, it’s nice to notice this one still is as good as I remember it from the late 90’s when esp0r and I discovered the excitement outside of Lagerland. Dark brown, good tanned head. Warm aroma of dark fruits, malts, vanilla. Really complex taste of dried fruits, alcohol, spice, yeast and flowers. Good aroma, with just the right level of carbonation - lasting sweet finish

Bottle shared with (and courtasy of) Inbreak and ClubGonzo. Vintage 2007. Pours a hazy brown colour with a small beige head. Nice sweet aromas of dried fruit, wood, leather, fudge, port and a hint of alcohol. In the flavour I find leather, dried fruit, coffee and some anis and something salty (licorice). Light bitterness, and slick but a bit watery mouthfeel. The beer has a good aroma but feels a bit thinner in the taste.

Pours dark brown-amber with a thick creamy-smooth tan head. Sweet malt, yeast, some spices and some dark fruits on the aroma. Roasted malt, caramel, dark fruits (probably plums), yeast and spice. A little alcohol at the finish. Smooth and balanced beer with complex taste. Great beer.

Excellent beer that you must try. It has smell of dark fruits, cherries, malt and yeast. It’s medium, creamy and has great carbonation. Smooth and rich beer that tastes like mild cherry, belgian yeast and caramel. 9% alc didnt feel so much. Great beer!

Aroma is plums, prunes, raisins, smoky malts, caramel, metallic hops and booze. Taste is plenty of caramel, cocoa, roasted malts, sugar, raisins and plums, spicy and a bit nutty. A bit of metallic hops with a liitle sour funk. Palate is medium with tons of carbonation. Very rich, smooth and complex. Very, very well done.

Oh my goodness, ladies and gentlemen. This gem pours to an amazing head and lacing with a beautiful dark copper color. Intoxicating scent - plum, mandarin, banana, yeast, floral, pure bliss. Suppose it could be a tad stronger, but still. Flavors - candy apple, banana, malt, booze, grapefruit, heaven. Lingering lip-licking complexity. One of the greatest beers to ever grace mankind.

Very well balanced, but nothing about it stands out as spectacular. Some raisin and dried fruit flavors mixed with a little herbiness. A tasty and very solid beer that’s been overhyped.

Roasty and malty. Slightly yeasty plum raisin flavor. Overly carbonated for my taste. Nice dark caramel color ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone