Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottled. Cloudy orange color, large lasting creamy head. Aroma is orange/citrus, hoppy, bit spicy and yeasty. Taste is refreshing, citrussy maybe, bit malty. Very nice, easy to drink Chimay brew!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Cloudy golden orange with a fluffy, disappearing head. Fruity aroma with some hops. Quite sweet, very fruity (banana) and some alcohol. - Re-rated since it was one of my first ratings and excitement over good beer took over back then
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle. Reddish-orange color. With amber and copper tinges. Smells like plum and alcohol. Initial taste has cherry flavored notes which are highly pleasant. Alcohol begins to come out immediately and does not overpower. Body is medium and there is a round flavor on the palate throughout. It warms very very nicely and many more plum, cherry and other fruit notes are apparent. Ends with a nice yeasty alcohol taste, that leaves a bit more to be desired body wise (I finished mine very quickly) but other than this, no complaints. Rerate, blind dubbel tasting. I sure dont remember this one being this full and flavorful, but wow. My friend and I both picked this one as our favorite (and best of style) hands down. Ripe red fruits, soft cherry cola, medium dark malts, bubbly palate and a wonderful yeastiness. The fruit was fabulous though and really put this one on top. Great stuff and it’s nice to revisit a chimay and find it better than remembered.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Pale Golden. Pours with a wonderful champagne effervesence. You MUST DRINK THIS at the right temperature (56-57ish) or the flavor will not come out and you will not get the true experience. Just tried this in the small bottle. WOW! This is the best tripel Ive had to date(RERATE. Ive tried alot more tripels, this is still good, but not as good as some of the best ones). It didnt suffer from the overly yeasty/grainy flavor I see in so many belgians. Had a great floral flavor at points and I even thought I tasted some citrus notes. The alcohol was not reserved for the finish and was pleasantly present throughout and adds to a huge yeasty/raisiny complex body. While I was drinking this, I kept thinking of an abbey pale and even an american pale. It had a wonderfully even body which I did not find myself wanting more of at the end, which is usually the case with most beers. This is one of the better beers Ive tried in fact and many brewers could learn a lesson from this. Only things detracting from this beer is its need of a little extra kick of something in the main body, though I should reiterate, it does have a wonderful medium- full body. I have looked, and I do not taste any metallic bitterness on the finish. Rerate, it dosent have nearly as much flavor as many smaller brewed belgians and is a bit astringent. This one is much more on the drier side, could stand more malt/bubble gum. Good sharp lemon/hops/citrus mix on the aroma.
Draught tulip at redbones, January 2006
Fairly aggressive yeastiness, plenty of perfumey alcohol esters and lots of dry, grainy biscuity malt. Dry fruits on the end, but could use something to anchor it, ie. more malt and body. Seemed a little too aerated and bubbly, with too much sharpness. Not quite as much finesse or sheer flavor as some of the best in the class, but I need to get a 750mL bottle and sit down and give it a better review.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Dark brown with reddish shine. Medium-thick, slightly coloured head, collapsing. Very strange meaty smell, like gelatine in a meatpastry, and arachide (peanut)oil or -butter. Metallic nose too, and after some time, dark malts and just a hint of hops. Very little bit metallic taste, then roasted malts, spicey - don't dare to say hops - and, definitely, salts. There is some salty whiff in this brew. Retronasal again meaty - and fruity notes, or preserved fruit. Rather light-bodied, certainly for its 7% ABV. Something velvety, however, on the tongue. The wheat 'flour' showing? I cannot follow people who praise this to heaven, nor those who will see nothing but a commercially denaturated product in this beer. An above average, reasonnable beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
2008 re-rate. The dark brown colour and firm white head makes it look very attractive. Aroma of dried fruit, some banana and a hint of metal. Dry with a fruity sweetness, a touch of licorice and spicy complexity. Big and creamy mouthfeel.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Very dark brown. Slight brown head. Roasted malts, fruity (dark ripe fruit as plums and pears), yeasty (meat gravy), sugar malts. Taste is bitter as from roasted malts. Heavy malty upbuild. Fine aromas from nose are more coarse here; yeast still there, fruit reduced to some pear & sweet banana. More bitter retronasal, liquorice, woody flavour. Full bodied, chewy. Alcohol remains hidden. Still a great beer. And yet, I'm missing something. I wonder how this ages, and find the magnificence I associate it with.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
A nice pale colour, served in the authentic Chimay goblet. Small amount of a slightly off-white head. Subtle smell, definate yeastyness though. A good example of a nice medium bodied belgian beer, with complex flavours lingering in every corner. I've had it in bottles a few times, but I was completely unaware they sold this in the Keg (from Belgium). Tasted on Tap at MacGregor's in Rochester, New York.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
750mL bottle (2003). Ive had this beer from the bottle a few times. I maintain that it is somewhat overrated, as there are better belgians Ive had. Red, brown gold tones in the color with a range of peachy citrus to nutty/alcohol in the aroma. VERY full bodied, meaty beer though. Its almost like drinking a beer off the filter. Certainly complex, and provides a variety of flavors when drunk at different temperatures. Too much head for my liking, but was to be expected off such a yeasty beer.
1983 bottle sampled in August 2005. Has aged magnificently.
11/05 vintage dated 750mL bottle drunk on 7/7/07
Raisins, pears, figs, apples and other mostly clean Belgian yeast esters, with caramel sweetness in the background. It’s a pleasant aroma, though even after only 3 months, my memory recalls little to distinguish this beer. Or perhaps, more accurately, my memory recalls that there really is little to distinguish in this beer.
Similar flavor profile, your typical well-made Quad, with soft malty sweetness (caramels, raisins, prunes, figs) and lighter, minimally tart apple/cherry esters towards the end. Yeast seems more clean and less "rustic" or "charming" or what have you, than in past samples. Musty, corky, earthy and woody are flavors I associated with this beer, for the better, but now it’s just a rather plain Belgian Dark Strong. Nothing wrong with it, but hardly anything I’ll go out of my way to drink again. Alcohol well concealed, no flaws. Score is for this bottle.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Very dark brown in colour, almost opaque! Nice smell, some sweetness in the aroma, but definately not overpowering! Heavy malt and a great aftertaste, although somewhat a bit more mild than I remember from the first time I sampled it! Still a great beer, but I prefer other belgians still!