284. Chimay Triple

This is our first Chimay beer for the year, although by no means is it our first Chimay—who hasn’t experimented with those lovely red, blue, and white bottles? I’ll tell you who—people who are scared of a good beer! We had this on tap at the new Side Bar coffee shop/bar—it’s not quite finished yet, but I am sure it will be soon.

Chimay Triple pours a soft hazy caramel with a light white head; the nose is fruity and sweet—mostly of the candy variety of sweetness—along with a good dose of yeast ester aromas (and maybe some phenols as well—I’m still not certain of all the specific distinctions between the two)—let’s just say it’s very Belgian, and leave it at that. The front is a soft, yeasty, and sweet with some light hop bitterness in the middle as well as a bit of bubblegum and clove flavors before ending sweet, bright, and slightly perfume-y and spicy. Chimay Triple is light to medium bodied with medium carbonation that is bright and slightly effervescent. A very good beer across the board—but then again, it is Chimay.

From the Chimay website: “Named Cinq Cents in 75 cl (25.4 fl.oz.) bottles, this beer with its typical golden colour, its slightly hazy appearance and its fine head is especially characterised by its aroma which results from an agreeable combination of fresh hops and yeast. The beer’s flavour, as sensed in the mouth, comes from the smell of hops: above all it is the fruity notes of muscat and raisins that give this beer a particularly attractive aroma. The aroma complements the touch of bitterness. There is no acidity, but an after-bitterness which melts in the mouth. This top fermented Trappist beer, refermented in the bottle, is not pasteurised.”

ABV: 8.0%

(4/10/2010)