Bières de Chimay (Abbaye de Scourmont)

Commercial Brewery in Baileux, Hainaut, Belgium 🇧🇪
Associated with 2 Venues

Established in 1862

Contact
Route Charlemagne 8, Baileux, 6464, Belgium
Description
Chimay is an authentic Trappist beer: this means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery, under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, who are involved through the process of making and marketing the beer. Most of the income generated by this activity is devoted to the needs of the community and social works.

The brewery was founded inside Scourmont Abbey, in the Belgian municipality of Chimay in 1862. Since the seventies the beer is transported from the monastery to the bottling plant 12 km away at Baileux, where also the cheese factory and a visitor center are located. The beer is then refermented in the bottle for three weeks before being shipped around the world. 50% of Chimay beer production is sold on the export markets. The brewing plant was updated in 1988.

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8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Magnum to celebrate my 10,000th rating on RateBeer June 13th 2020. Shared with Blackhaddock and the beer share posse in the Quarry, Shrewsbury
Tried from Bottle at Chez Sophie on 07 Dec 2025 at 10:19

8.2/10
Tried from Draft on 05 Dec 2025 at 16:23



8/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7.5 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 9
My bottle is in English (Grande Reserve Barrel Fermented) but I assume its the same beer. Kinda fun to have Chimay again for the first time in maybe 20 years! Also, nice they have something new out! This is very similar to how I remember the old bleu, except this has a lot more doughy apple character. Quite yeasty, semi-sweet malts with dark fruit flavors that are almost obscured by the peppery yeastiness and peppery carbonation. Is there a hint of phenol? No I think thats the oak - yep I'm really understanding it now, the oak really sits in the transient middle between the yeasty fizz at the start and the boozy and mildly bitter finish. Mild bitterness at finish works as a nice complement to the estery and yeasty profile. Nose is caramel, sourdough, barrel aged spirits and more oak. ABV starts to come through halfway through the bottle, as I can just feel the ethanol vapors across my palate and retronasally. Plus it doesn't take long to feel it either. Still pretty remarkably balanced for such a big beer. Cloudy brownish, large foamy head lasts the whole time with full lacing.
Tried from Bottle on 16 Nov 2025 at 14:35


7.5/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7.5 Flavor 7.5 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Bottle at home shared by Joen. Red to red brown color, average sized beige head. Aroma is malts, nicely light sweetish, softly floral. Flavor is similar. Chimay with a light floral barrel hint. Quite alright.
Tried on 14 Nov 2025 at 22:44

7.1/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 7 Overall 6.5
Aus der Flasche (bbe 31.12.2021) im 2025-09 getrunken. Dieser dunkle Belgier kommt mit einem schönen durchgereiften Malzkörper daher. Die Flaschenreifung hat jegliche typische Süsse des Quadrupels aufgebraucht. Dadurch werden die Eichenaromen und leichten Sultaninen Aromen durch Cognac BA deutlich. Etwas mehr Süsse hätte diesen Aromen eine bessere Harmonie gegeben.
Tried from Bottle on 14 Nov 2025 at 16:26