Chimay Bleue (Blue)

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Baileux, Belgium

Bottle from Oddbins. Very effervescent. Pours deep ruby/brown with off-white head that rapidly diminished. Winey aroma, malt only hinted at, and a touch of rich, dried fruit. Smoky, spicy taste, with lots of plummy/raisin fruit - in fact it tastes like its aroma - and a very dry finish. Relatively light for a 9% beer. Words of mine can’t do justice to this masterpiece.

750 Bottle - Memphis. Poured a chestnut brown with a white head, continuously being fed by the bubbles below. Subtle raison, maybe sweet cherry in the flavor. VERY dry finish, amazing for a beer that tastes this sweet.

the best of all three main version, it is strong with lots of fruity malts and a high alcohol content, lots of rich flavors. a must have for the beer snob.

750 mL bottle. Pours a dark maple, hazy color with visible particulates from the yeast. Huge brown head that goes down quickly. Aroma is very sweet- almost candy. There are tons of cloves in the mix there too. Very creamy going down. Almost like really good spiked apple cider. Alcohol is very nicely covered up by the malts. Yeast flavor permeates until the aftertaste, which is slightly dry and malty.

Bottle. Poured a dark brown with a huge brown head. Aroma of dark fruits and malt. Flavor shares the sweet malt and dark fruits, with a bitterness at the end. Creamy on the palate. Great beer that is overlooked most of the time.

750 from Fresh Market, Raleigh. Another one of those beers that’s so ubiquitous that we beer geeks overlook them in the quest for the new. Dark brown pour with a very vibrant body, lots of carb and an abundant head. Slightly fruity in the aroma, and it’s there in the flavor too. But this is a sweet malty beer through and through, with a smooth velvety mouthfeel. Just a hint of bitterness comes on late to make things interesting, but this is basically a lush, warming malty beer.

Bottle. 25.4 oz. Split with Sean. Pours deep, hazy chesnut brown with a tall, full finger beige head. Aroma of figs, cinnamon, apples, caramel, booze, and hints of roasted malts and chocolate. Fuller bodied with a very smooth, sweet mouthfeel. Crisp, tangy, slow finish. Very well known and deservedly so; Chimay Blue is always reliably great. Highly recommended.

Bottle. Pours deep ruby/brown, small tan head with good retention. Aroma of sweet malts, yeast, brown sugar, and caramel. Thick mouthfeel; crisp, tart, and dry, with sweet dried fruits, sugar, yeast, and well-hidden alcohol. Nice lacing.