Chimay Rouge (Red) / Première

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Baileux, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass

I can’t believe I’ve been on Rate Beer this long and haven’t rated this beer. Admittedly my least favorite of the Chimay beers, still a nice Dubbel. Sampled out of one of the little bottles. Murky brown color with a big rocky beige head. Light pit fruit nose with some dark sugar. Warming alcohol sensation. Tastes of ripe plum and other juicey fruits, and dark brown sugar sweetness. Solid beer, and readily available.

Very Good Chimay. Deep Gold Color. Strong, but well balanced. Yeast Flavor as well.

Bottle 0,33l. Dark golden coloured with a tanned head - lasting for a while. Spicy aroma. Soft mouthfeel. Malty flavour. A bit unvaried but an OK beer. Some sediments in the bottle.

UPDATED: JAN 4, 2010 From a 33cl bottle on august 26, ’07 at a Botulfs in Lund. Aroma is floral and citrusy with a touch of alcohol. Rich cloudy redish brown color with a thin off-white head that dissipates quickly. Flavour is well balanced with caramel malt dominating and the high alcohol showing slightly with the hop notes in the aftertaste. Palate is rich with lively carbonation that sticks around as the beer warms. Overall, a good beer-the best that i’ve had in Sweden so far. This is my first Abbey Dubbel and if it is typical of the style, then i am looking forward to trying more. I would have liked slightly more hop bite to balance the richness of the malt, but it worked all the same. (6,4,7,4,16)

Rerate: 33cl bottle. It’s been over two years, but I’m finally getting around to rerating my first beer on the site. Back then I had no idea what a dubbel was supposed to taste like, I just knew that I thought this was a pretty good beer and it sparked my interest in Belgian beer and the Trappists in particular. I have certainly come along way since then, rating 22 other dubbels in the mean time. I am certainly not as impresses with Rouge now as I was then, but it is still a decent beer. The flavor seems a little too thin and devoid of malt character, with an almost washed-out yeast profile, but it still hangs on to a nice balance and some dried fruit flavors including apricot and prune, with a lightly spicy edge. The aroma is a touch yeasty and doughy with some clove, cookie and cooked red apple, but lacks the depth and impact of better dubbels. Light bodied and a little airy with carbonation that could be tighter and creamier. If it sounds like I’m just hating at this point, its only because I once built this beer up so much; I still don’t dislike it, it just really isn’t anything special once you’ve been around the block a few times.

Pours copper with rich thick head...smells very dry with a hint of alcohol...very wine-like...tastes of caramel and dark fruits...a bit tart...beautiful...

From a bottle this poured a red to brown with a very large and billowing head that left good lacing in my Chimay glass. Nose of fruit and some hops. Very rich mouthfeel. Flavor is simply divine, and finish is crisp and clean. Superb beer.

Pour is a dark red with a large white head. Aroma is some dark fruits but not much else. Flavor is malty and again dark fruit but nothing again stands out. None of the usual yeastyness that i would usually get with a Belgian. For being one of the six trappist brews this is one kinda of bland and boring.

Lietchies nose, a bit sulphury. Rocky fizzy head on a red orange brew with fizzy carbonation. Pricks and numbs the tongue, spicey and fruity - grapes and pepper. Very fizzy but very nice.