Chimay Grande Reserve: The Grand Ole' Beer of Belgium
Dec 21 '00
The Chimay beers may well be the most venerated and adored brews on the face of the planet, and frankly, that reputation is well-merited. Chimay makesTrappist ales which are considered by many beer connoisseurs to be the last word when it comes to brewing excellence. These beers are brewed in operational monasteries, with real-life, sexually-frustrated monks, and their only source of income is making these amazing ales. I’m not a Catholic, but thank God for these celibate fools anyway, because I do believe that these are the overall best beers that you will ever find. There are only seven breweries in the world that brew beers that can be called Trapppist ales, 6 in Belgium and 1 in the Netherlands, and every single one I have tried has been of the very highest quality. Chimay Grande Reserve is certainly no exception.
The Beer
My bottle of Chimay is of the big honkin’ variety, a 750mL monster complete with a cork and a wire cage. With an understated blue label with a gold ensign, this beer just looks like a classic. I never understand why breweries so often bedeck their beers with gaudy labels, featuring bright, annoying colors or silly pictures. If you are going to make a good beer, then for Heaven’s sake, give it a classy, elegant presentation. Who wants to drink some thing that looks like it was bottled in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory?
Poured into a goblet (man do I wish I had one of those super-cool Chimay chalices) Chimay Grand Reserve is a dark, murky brownish hue with a modest head formation. The smell is a deep mixture of wonderfully complex aromas; there is a bit of that distinctive Belgian yeastiness, as well as bread and alcohol, but the most dominant smell is cedar. This isn’t an aroma I’ve detected in a beer before, but it gives the brew an earthy, authentic spin, like this is a beer of made from the best stuff on earth (Snapple, eat your heart out.)
Despite being a dark brew, Chimay Grande Reserve is not an overwhelmingly thick, heavy beer. It is boasts a very spritzy, lively mouthfeel that is due to presence of lots of natural carbonation. The backbone here is a deep maltiness that is balanced to perfection by an exceedingly long, dry hoppy finish. In the middle, notes of cedar and bitter chocolate emerge, gradually giving way to mild yeast flavors and then enveloped by waves of peppery, spicy alcohol. This is one potent brew at 9%, but it is not overly aggressive, just extremely warming and calming. Overall, an excellent beer, to say the least.
Conclusions
This is simply a wonderful brew, one that certainly deserves to be on any beer lover’s “to drink list.” Although not quite as good as the Chimay triple, Cinq Cents, this beer is a terrific nightcap drink. I still have fond memories of the night last month when I drank it; I can honestly say that I cannot remember being more relaxed that I was at that time. I just lounged in front of the fire, and then chatted on the phone all evening, in near-perfect calm, allowing the perfectly melded flavors to stimulate my palate, while the alcohol calmed my nerves and the all the ingredients of this beer filled up my tummy.
Fortunately for us, Chimay is by far the most widely distributed of the Trappist ales, and so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find this bad boy wherever you live. The big bottles that I like will run you about $8, which is actually a better deal than getting the normal sized bottles, which will cost upwards of $4 for less than half the amount. Trust me, the price is worth it; you aren’t going to find a more complex, rich, fulfilling beer than this one for any cheaper than that, I’m sorry to say.
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Epinions.com ID:
Teykaerts
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Member: David Teykaerts
Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews written: 120
Trusted by: 61 members
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