Chimay Blue with glass. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.
I’m enjoying a week off before starting a quick summer maymester. So last night, my wife and I took in the new Avengers movie, which as a comic book fanatic I enjoyed, and grabbed some pizza and beer.
Our local Mellow Mushroom has an awesome beer list. That list includes all three Chimay varieties: red, white, and blue. Just like Captain America!
Anywho, Chimay is a Trappist beer brewed by the monks of the Scourmont Abbey in Chimay, Belgium. The colors represent different beer styles and their corresponding labels and caps. Red for the double, white* for the triple, and blue for the quad.
Well, you know which one I opted for. Chimay Blue, also known as the Grande Reserve, was originally brewed as a Christmas beer. You will know it by its blue label.
Smell: Yeasty, bready, and boozy. It’s a strong nose.
Sight: It pours much like a German dark or English brown ale. Cola-like with a
Chimay Blue poured into a glass. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.
nice beige head.
Taste: This is a rather spicy beer. There’s a nice balance between malty sweetness and hoppy bitterness. There’s a bit of dried fruit, fig or raisin. But it isn’t as sweet as most quads.
Alcohol: Chimay Blue is 9% alcohol and is the heftiest of the three Chimay varieties. It is hefty as well. Some of that “spice” I referred to is the alcohol.
Overall: Chimay Blue is a solid quad or Belgian strong dark. If you are put off by the sweetness of some quads, then give this one a try. I can usually find Chimay in upscale restaurants, so it is my go-to beer. I also use it to introduce people to Trappist ales.
Bottom line: I paid $9 at the Johnson City Mellow Mushroom. I can’t find the beer for less than $6 or $7 in the bottle shops. So this is a fair price, especially for a restaurant. And it is well worth the price of admission. If you want to try out the Trappist way of beer. Try this one.
*I should point out that the Chimay White is not actually a white beer or witbier, but is instead a triple. And it used to have more of a gold label. But there is already a Chimay Gold, which is a low-alcohol beer brewed for the monks and not widely available. Anyway, most people in the United States know Chimay by its colors. But you might be better off ordering a Chimay Triple by name. Just a weird, cross-cultural thing.
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