I reviewed Chimay 150 (Green Cap) a few weeks ago and I just realized.. I never reviewed any other Chimay beers in my life and I've sampled my share worth of Chimays over the past 15 years or so. Unfortunately for several years it was hard to find anything from Chimay here in Manitoba as the MLCC discontinued just about every Belgian beer ever known.. but Chimay's back in my neck of the woods! Chimay Red (Rouge) and White (Blanche) will likely be reviewed soon.. hopefully, if I don't forget.
Chimay Blue Cap has been probably the most consistently available of Chimay's beers in Manitoba as I've sampled this beer many, many times dating back to a decade ago.
From the website: The beautiful warm, dark hues of Chimay Blue and its compact light-brown head put on a spectacular show. This beer is without a shadow of a doubt a match made in heaven
between luscious fruity aromas and delicious chocolate.
It begins with a light sweet note before the creamy caramel transitions to a soft Mocha combined with an intense spicy taste, culminating in a delicious candied fruit finish. The delicious overall flavour develops into a pleasant lingering aftertaste, triggering a subtle warm feeling and the sensation of pure chocolate. 9.0% ABV
Appearance: Murky, dark brown with a bit of floaty bits throughout the beer. The head is very creamy with a beige hue to it and I'm not really noticing it diminishing at all except as I savour the beer, it's leaving behind a very creamy layered lacing on the glass. This is a beautiful beer.
Aroma: Sweet, a hint of molasses, raisins, prunes, somewhat sugary but also has a mild booziness to it. There's also a hint of clove in there as well as a rich brown bread presence. Quite sweet and probably will be exactly the kind of beer I want on this -30C prairie afternoon (well, the sun is quickly setting as I type this).
Taste: Sweet, a tad nutty, brown bread and a hint of molasses. There's a very faint tartness to it that reminds me of a cherry sour.. but at the same time not at all, if that makes any sense. Hint of clove, dark fruit (raisins, fig, prunes). Nowhere near as boozy as I thought it would be from the aroma.
Overall Thoughts: Chimay Blue is the gold (or blue?) standard for this kind of beer - it holds up really well compared to beers such as Unibroue's Trois Pistoles and Rochefort 8. I can't believe it's taken this long to review this beer.
Here's a bonus: I went to De Burger restaurant in Eindhoven, NL last year and discovered that they had an option for Chimay cheese for their burger. When I saw the slab of cheese being added to the burger at the beginning, all I thought was "wow, that's a lot of cheese, I don't know how I'll deal with that!" Well, I had no issue at all, it was a flavourful, melty, salty cheese that paired really well with the fresh beef and bacon from the burger.. easily one of my top five burgers I've ever had.. and I'm someone who grew up on a cattle farm!
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