Chimay Rouge (Red)

Brewed by Chimay
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Baileux, Belgium

Pours amber with thin white head that goes away quickly. Notes of raisin and plum in this, but very light on those. Hits the palate with a pretty strong dry flavor, that finishes clean.

Dark brown with a dense beige head. Aroma is malty with candy like esters. Flavour is also malty, very round and fruity but with less yeasty flavours than the nose delivers. Body drags this one down for me, too fizzy with sharp carbonation, needs a long time to settle in the glass.

Vintage 2008. Serving date: 2009-01-21. Served in snifter. 330 ml bottle with freshness date (Best before end of 2012) and recommended serving temperature, glassware and cellaring procedure on the label. Dark copper color with a 2,5 cm brown-shaded and sparkling head that dissipates rather fast and leaves some small lacings. A general sweet and fruity smell (kind of like ripe apricots), soft chocolate nougat and notes or grass sits firmly on a backbone of yeast and spices. At first, sweet malts, fruits and bread hits the taste buds. Then, a mild yeast note and a distinct spicy flavor - primarily cloves - takes over for a while before the finish. It’s just slightly vinous. The finish is characterized by a gentle bitterness, even more gentle tartness and spices. Towards the end, it develops a nice caramel flavor. Medium body, nice and lively carbonation. Very nice mouthfeel. A very well-composed beer with interesting, pleasant and sometimes subtle notes to be discovered. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

750 mL bottle from my local Farm Fresh, purchased 1 year ago. Reddish-brown pour with a huge, foamy off-white head. Aroma of pear, apple, grape, brown sugar and Belgian yeast. Flavor is mostly raisin and apple peel with some Belgian candi sugar. A good beer but probably my least favorite of the Chimay beers.

330mL bottle poured into a Chimay goblet. Cloudy copper color with not much head. There is a nice sweet smell of raisins, molasses, and yeast. Medium mouthfeel and flavor is of fruits, malt, and yeast. There is a bit of bitterness to balance it out. This is quite drinkable at 7% abv. Overall a great dubbel.

Everyone has heard of Chimay and for good reason, it is a great beer. Nice interplay between different elements while staying balanced. Great flavors.

Very deep, rich, dark amber color. Smallish creamy white foamy head. Decent, but minimal, retention. Almost no lacing. Big caramel notes on the forefront. Deep, dark fruits that are just a day away from being overripe. Nice, rich malt profile. Nice yeasty quality. Taste is pretty light, compared to the nose. Nice malty presence, though really not very sweet. Quite earthy and yeasty, actually. Possibly over-carbonated, IMO. Mouthfeel is creamy enough, but nothing to right home about. The overdone carbonation really hurts it, I think. I would think of this as a good ’starter’ dubbel. My least fave from Chimay.

Murky dark brown beer with a rich, beige head that leaves a huge amount of lace behind. The aroma has some crunchy sugar, fruity hops, vanilla and banana. The taste has a lot of syrupy malt, a little iron and bittery hops.