Chimay Bleue (Blue)

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Baileux, Belgium

(Rerate, small bottle.) This is a great beer! Vinous must be the word here. I started drinking this near to room temperature - interesting aroma (leather, oak) but not very refreshing (even a vinous beer should be!) till I had cooled it down in the fridge for half an hour. I think +12-14 degrees C should be right for this beer. Colour is dark brown, alcohol well hidden. Fizzy carbonation that disappeared rapidly. As the beer is bottle conditioned, I suppose this will vary from one bottle to another. Flavour that calls for sipping, aftertaste lasts forever. Expensive in Norway, but worth the price.

Large headed beer with a slight aromatic fruity aroma. The beer is very palatable for something so strong. Its only niggle is the slight liquorice aftertaste.

Nice full head. Dark brown/black stuff in the glass smells faintly of raisins and molasses. Smooth in the mouth, licorice, raisins and fig sweetness gather in the of the throat. Residue gathers at the sides of the tongue with rum and amaretto flavors. Previous bottles had not convinced me that this was all that great of a beer until I had this four year old from 99. Chimay should cellar them all for a couple of years after bottling, do not trust us we are heavy drinkers.

<P>The beer pours with a lazy, quick disipating head, which is surprising. I’m used to having almost as much head as beer with belgian strongs. What head did form is a pale tan with gray notes. <P>There’s a strong yeastiness to the aroma, almost like bread dough just as it starts to bake. The aroma is also very grapey/winey. It reminds me immediately of the wine the church I went to as a child uses for Communion. Below the yeast and wine I noticed a smell making me think of Rollos and Caramel Twix with light chocolate and caramel malt aromas. <P>The flavor is an exercise in the melding of light and darkness. The bright flavors of bubblegum esters, yeastiness, the very faint sourness common to the style, chalk and the alcohol (very faint and only at the end) made for a very bright character that both contrasted and complimented the dark tones of the chocolate and caramel, a slight burnt bitterness and an even fainter smokiness. I was especially surprised to pick up on the burnt and smoke flavors, two flavors I’ve never noticed in any of the Belgian strong dark ales. <P>The palate is surprisingly carbonated considering the wimpy head but lacks the cottony carbonation that many of the lighter strongs (including Chimay Red) have that turns me off. The carbonation here balance the slightly creamy mouthfeel nicely. <P>I was really surprised by this beer. It’s probably one of very few of the style that I’d actually buy on a regular basis.

This was one for me that was hard to track down. Everyplace that I went to that had this on the menu where out of it. I happened to find it at a SAQ in Hull. I am glad that I did because this is one hell of a beer.

Good Beer if expensive. A little strong for me I prefer the premium but this is great in its own right.

A great beer. Very, very smooth and mild. It was pretty malty and had a nice nut flavor. There was a slightly vanilla aftertaste that I found appealing. Attractive, a dark brown with a fluffy, beige head. There was a fruity flavor that was a little hard to put my finger on, but I liked it.

This is a big malt beer. Nothing else shows through. Dark in color and cloudy, sweet and carmely, full of various rich malt flavors. No hops to speak of. Higher alcohol, but decadent to the last drop. Truely a king among the Belgians.