Fancy Pants Sunday: Chimay
Fashion-wise, we keep things pretty casual here at Peaks and Pints: Brewery T-shirts and flannel, jeans, and the latest thrift store finds are all par for the course. Still, now and then it’s fun to get dressed up a little bit, and gather all your friends to do the same and indulge in fancy craft beer.
This week’s Fancy Pants Sunday craft beer is Chimay, made by Trappist monks cloistered away in Scourmont Abbey in Belgium (where they also make tasty Chimay cheese) with the operation’s profits paying for the monks’ pious lifestyle and charitable efforts. Having been around since 1862, Chimay’s a relatively new entry in the world of godly beverages with three commercial beers, all of which are available for purchase at Peaks and Pints in fancy 750ml bottles.
Chimay Premiere (Red)
You love premieres because you fancy. If high school French serves us correctly, “Premiere” also means “First.” That’s appropriate since the Red was the first beer Chimay produced. This holy sud has a beautiful burnt-sienna color to it, and shows some cloudiness with a pretty decent head. The Red has a warming stone-fruit sort of smell that is pleasantly gamey. The taste is expectantly sweet, fruity, and malty — a whole lot of flavor without being overwhelming. It’s an accessible example of the classic Belgian ale, if you will. 750ml, 7%
Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue)
The Chimay Blue was originally released as a Christmas beer. Ho ho yo it’s the darkest of the three Chimays — a deep auburn, with a nice head floating on top. We can see some visible suspended particles floating around among the plentiful bubbles, enticing us with promises of big flavor. The Blue’s bouquet is very sweet with hints of caramel and a brandy aroma, which alludes to the high ABV. The flavor is rich and complex — malty, yeasty, sweet and alcoholic. An excellent beer to warm you up on a cold March day. 750ml, 9%
Chimay Tripel (White)
Ah, the White. The last-born of the Chimay beers. Enchante. Being a tripel, this beer is much lighter than the others — a bright goldenrod color with lots of bubbles. The smell is lovely, with lots of yeast, candy and medicinal notes. The taste starts sweet, then turns a tad sour, with an alcoholic punch at the end of the progression. Grab this bottle and share it at your short, stout, handlebar mustached friend Ned’s weekly Sunday social gathering at Peaks and Pints. 750ml, 8%
You Fancy Chimay!
