Chimay Blue - Terrible Example of Beer (First Impressions Do Last?)

Reads 3285 • Replies 19 • Started Thursday, August 15, 2013 6:09:34 AM CT

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JMar
beers 1 º 06:09 Thu 8/15/2013

I would like to know why there is so much hype about Chimay Blue, it seems to have an almost fanatical backing from some reviewers across the web. I have posted a review about the beer already, but feel that I need to discuss this matter with fellow beer-men.
My initial experience, horrible... If I want to drink champagne tasting beer (which would be never) I will mix the two together.
Somebody enlighten me, tell me that I got a dud!!!

 
BMMillsy
beers 1788 º places 120 º 06:34 Thu 8/15/2013

Assuming you are not just here to troll today.

Sounds like a weird bottle to me. I find it to be on the chewier side of the Trappist ales and loaded with sweet plums and figs and brown sugar.

 
DietPepsican
beers 1592 º places 63 º 06:40 Thu 8/15/2013

Do you normally drink demi sec or above champagne? Can’t think of any champagnes I’ve had that are as sweet as chimay.

 
JMar
beers 1 º 06:42 Thu 8/15/2013

I really am not trolling!
Sorry if it came off that way.

I tried the Rochefort 8 and absolutely loved it from first sip to last, creamy, thick, toffee, caramel, even fruity.
But the Chimay... Dismal.

It was a 2013 bottle (It said so on the label), maybe that had something to do with the tartness.

 
Christos
beers 6111 º places 110 º 06:48 Thu 8/15/2013

I would say to try it again, and preferably buy it from a different store because by reading your review it seems you had a bad bottle. In no case Chimay has a thin watery body. And I agree it smells and tastes if figs and plums. So, give it another try.

 
JMar
beers 1 º 06:52 Thu 8/15/2013

pepsican: I’m not a big champagne drinker, but from my limited knowledge I have had mostly ’Sec’ level of sweetness. By champagne taste, i meant more sour grape flavours, which tastes like most of the crappy champagne I have experienced!

Douberd: I think you’re right, I seem to be the only one who has had this experience!

Thank-you for the replies!

 
WillRunForBeer
beers 2859 º places 24 º 07:00 Thu 8/15/2013

While I would give high marks to a beer that I felt was Champagne like (as opposed to champagne of beers like), that’s not at all what I get from Chimay Blue. I think you ought to try it again from a different store/bar and if you have a different experience then stop buying from the place you originally got it.

 
rickgordon
beers 3878 º places 41 º 07:22 Thu 8/15/2013

Chimay Bleu is highly carbonated and when served cold the foam doesn’t develop fully. Also when cold, it feels lighter in body.
The beer has little residual sugars, the sweet sensation comes mostly from the alcohol.

 
pinkie
beers 470 º places 10 º 10:08 Thu 8/15/2013

Hello. You have given me a reason to get all the chimays again and re -rate as they were some of my first ratings.

It’s very possible that you had a bad bottle like the others said as I have found their beers to be always above the rest.

 
Jamesthebrit
beers 422 º places 22 º 17:37 Thu 9/19/2013

Since no one has said it from my quick glance over: it could just be personal preference.

I’ve had this dilema with Sculpin. I even went to far to track it down on three separate occasions, and even though it remains highly rated, every time I didn’t much care for it.

...Or you got yourself a bad bottle.

 
WheatKing
beers 1351 º 18:06 Thu 10/10/2013

Though we’d never admit it, sometimes the state of your palate at the exact moment of tasting can change things. Could be as simple as being in the wrong frame of mind. Try a blind tasting of the two.