Chimay Rouge (Red) / Première

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Baileux, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

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Great beer, excellent flavor, aroma, appearance, and very pleasing to my palate! You can find this great beer in the Belgium beer section at Bev Mo. This is a must try, don’t let the price put you off it is well worth the $.

Bottle: Pours beautiful clear brown with reddish tinge, like chocolate or an antique copper color, like an old, old penny. The medium head is tan and lingering. Fruity aromas, almost like wine, with assorted fresh bread aromas. And the taste! Oh, the taste. Marvelous! Wonderous! Sweet, yet not cloying, with a mild astringency and hoppy bitterness, all balancing out in a glorious dance of flavors and textures, no one flavor dominating, all in harmony. Even my mother liked it, and my mother doesn’t like most beer. Rich and full, and finishes nice and clean. Nothing negative to say about it, ’cept I wish I had another one handy!

I have scoured the world and found no better beer. Complexity abounds. There is a distinctly different start, middle, and finish which goes through sweet, dry, fruity, bitter, and malt.

My very first beer from Belgium when Liquor Barn was in Dublin, CA. This was 1983!! I have been a devotee of Trappist ales and Belgian beers ever since.

Pours deep red & brown with an off-white head. I got this in The Sundial Restaurant in Atlanta. The waiter presented this beer like it was an expensive bottle of wine. I loved the taste and feel of this beer. it went down smooth with a long lasting flavor. A must have!!

Bottle from Oddbins. Very effervescent and this makes it almost impossible to pour clear. No matter, it still looks great. Initially large off-white head fades rapidly to a thin veneer. Yeast and rich raisin fruit in the nose. There’s a surprisingly complex bitterness and sweetness that eventually reveals an intense spiciness. Very mellow lasting finish. Like the Blue, adding the sediment gives an extra dimension. This beer is an absolute joy.

Best beer I have ever had...I am no professional but this is really some good stuff

Served in a Kings Goblet. OK beer snobs, best beer I have ever had. Ice cold, ribs, mashed potatoes Wonderful.

Appearance: reddish cola brown with big foamy white head. Aroma: sweet caramel and roasted, bready malts; some spiciness like ginger snaps. Taste: sweet caramel malts, dark fruit (raisin?); spices of cinnamon and light clove. Finish: medium, lightly sweet malts with dry and tart yeasty notes. Notes: Perfect. Great sweetness (but not too sweet), with perfect amount of carbonation yielding to a beautiful dry finish. Amazingly refreshing, superlatively balanced, complex and satisfying. The perfect beer. Perfect.

33cl. bottle from a local beer retailer. It pours a murky brown liquid with some amber tones (and some ruby as it evolves) and many little yeast spots, with a gigantic consistent and pillowy beige head (tainted brown by a nice yeast sediment) that lasts beautifully throughout the beer and leaves some good lacing. The aroma is mostly malty, with caramel, brown sugar, some hints of banana and a slight citrusy hoppiness. There is also a good deal of roastiness and bready yeasts. It tastes kind of likewise, but intenser and more complex, some dried fruits suddenly appearing as well as a faint brandy-like touch. A nice spiciness is also there. It is medium sweet, a little sour and has a pleasant notable bitterness. In the mouth it feels thick and mildly carbonated, with little bubbles coming alive inside the mouth, very slightly prickling the tongue. The body is medium, giving the brew more drinkability. It finishes rather dry and bitter, with a sweet caramelly and nutty finish along with some floral and citrusy hoppiness. The presentation is smart and very trappist-like. I love it; can’t help it. It might be somewhat overrated (not much, though), but the feelings towards some beers go beyond the metrics. A nice way to celebrate my 200 ratings.