Belgian Beer Board

Well folks, yesterday I spotted this canned Chimay in one of the large liquor retailers called Total Wine & More, located near my place of work. I purchased a single can to give it a try. 4 Packs of the cans were priced at $17.99. They still had some 4 packs of the bottled version as well, but priced considerably higher, at $25.99! Yikes. Why such a huge difference in price for the same beer in the same amount, I have no idea. I meant to purchase a single bottle as well, to do a side by side comparison between the canned version and the bottled version, but I got distracted looking at other beers in the store and completely forgot to grab a bottle before I left. So, I'll have to try to remember as best I can what the Chimay tripel was like the last time I had it, which was probably about 6 or 7 years ago.

This canned one poured a nice hazy golden color. Again, going from my memory of this beer from years ago in a bottle I had expected it to be a lot less hazy. But of course that could be my memory playing tricks on me. This canned version also seemed slightly less carbonated than I recalled the bottled one being. There was a lovely pillowy white head which remained throughout the duration, along with that nice Belgian Trappist yeast aroma.

This one went down very smoothly. There was what I'd describe as an almost creamy sensation to it. The taste was pretty much as I remembered it from before, but overall I really enjoyed this beer more than I remembered from years ago. Think I'll pick up some more soon, and try and remember to pick up a bottle this time for a side by side tasting.

Cheers! - John



 

My goodness Jay, you might as well not bother to unpack your suitcases mate! Some nice destinations you've got booked. Porto is a beautiful city, it reminded me somewhat of San Francisco. It's been 10 years or so since I was there and the beer selection was rather dismal back then, but I've heard it has improved somewhat in recent years. But of course Porto is known for it's wine, so do make a visit to one (or more) of the wineries along the Douro.

Looking forward to your reports Jay   

Cheers! - John

FAGNES CUVEE CONSTANT       

Dark Ale from des Fagnes, with an ABV of 7.5%. New brew for me.

Pours a ruby burgundy with a large rocky bubbly frothy head. Great lacing.

Aroma of malts, spices, chocolate and caramel.   

It's medium bodied, and perfectly carbonated. Complex, balanced, and with very
good depth of flavour. Smooth, luxurious, creamy, velvety texture and taste.
Malts, hops, licorice, spices, brown sugar, milk chocolate, caramel and
sweetish but with a drier spicey finish. Very easy drinking. Lovely stuff indeed!

Cheers!


Viv

FAGNES GOLD     


Blonde Ale from des Fagnes, with an ABV of 5.1%. New brew for me.

Pours a pale yellow with a large rocky bubbly frothy head. Great lacing.

Spicy hoppy aroma.

It's medium bodied, and perfectly carbonated. Complex, balanced, and good depth
of flavour considering the lowish ABV. Smooth, creamy luxurious mouthfeel and taste.
Malts, hops, herbals, florals, soap, fruits especially citrus, bittersweet, quite
dry and bitter, and with a long toffee and caramel finish. Very easy drinking.
Superb brew!

Cheers!


Viv

BORELLE       

Saison from Borelle/Valentin, brewed at de Feniks,  with an ABV of 7.0%. New brew
and new brewfirm too.

Pours a deep golden blonde with a huge rocky bubbly frothy head. Excellent lacing.

Lovely spicy, hoppy and malty aroma.

Medium bodied, and with a soft and filling grainy effervescent mouthfeel. Nice
complexity, well balanced and rounded, plus excellent depth of flavour. Crisp,
fresh, grainy, spicy, malty, hoppy, and so smooth. Dry and bitter and with an
unusual underlying flavour that I can't quite establish. Easy drinking, and quite
citric when warmed. Excellent brew for the style, maybe one of the best.

Cheers!


Viv

CLEMENT       

(fairly new ) Blonde Ale from de Ryck, with an ABV of 5.2%. New brew for me.

Pours a pale golden blonde with a large rocky frothy bubbly head. Great lacing.

Fresh, hoppy, herbal and floral aroma.

Medium bodied, and perfectly carbonated, with a slight fizziness. Nice complexity,
well balanced, and rounded, with great depth of flavour especially for the
lowish ABV. Crisp, sharp, fresh, with malts, hops, florals, herbals, grains,
spices, and with quite a dry and bitter hop-bite finish. Probably one of the
best for the style. 

Cheers!


Viv

Hi guys,

I must say that when I ordered the last batch of brews there were quite a few that
I thought may be quite a dissapointment and I have to say that so far the few I have
tasted are all excellent brews! Maybe it's their freshness creating much stronger
and deep flavours!

Ok, they may not get           

as that's normally reserved for much stronger brews, but for their styles they are
pretty near the best.

Cheers!


Viv

I'm never going to rate a blonde 

Hi folks,

Well then, recently Linda has been up to her usual self - that is booking lots of city breaks...yesterday she sprung the news of our 6th upcoming trip.

It was only a couple of weeks back that she surprised me with news that we're off to Porto in Portugal for my birthday in January 🇵🇹 and the bombshell yesterday...next Sunday we fly out for a 4 day break to Seville, Spain.

So that's -

Next week - Seville

November - Amsterdam

January - Porto

March - San Sebastián (yes we're heading back)

May - Copenhagen (MBCC)

September - Bruges

Lots to look forward to, with two new places (Seville and Porto) making lots of happy memories...expect reports on every trip.

Cheers
Jay 

Hi Filip,

I think that I got the last 2 bottles available in my recent order, and the sell-by date
was close, so I think that maybe it is brewed on a seasonal basis. It doesn't mention
anything on their website, but often any barrel aging is on a batch/seasonal basis.

Let's hope I can get me some more sometime in the near future.

Cheers!



Viv