Wednesday, July 22, 2015

the beers of FUTENMA: Chimay Blue


Chimay Blue if from The Abbaye de Scourmont near Chimay Belgium. The brewery, founded in 1862, Is the oldest to use the term Trappist on their labeling. Like all Trappist brewerys, it financially supports the Monastic community, the rest of the profits go to charity.


I have three of these to review, and according to the internet this one is phenomenal, but I'll be the judge of that. The bottle has Scourmont in raised lettering on the bottle topped with a circle with the letters D, A, and S inside. On the label we have a golden shield with two fleur-de-lis and CHIMAY Peres Trappistes, the rest is of the label is blue. The chalice is rather utilitarian, it says CHIMAY and has a fleur-de-lis bubbler at the bottom. It is poorly painted and not as nice as the others, but I'm not particularly afraid that I'm gonna break it, as it has a somewhat sturdier construction.Well, time to dispose of the crimp cap and release the brew!

When I popped the cap a whisp of mist and a flood of bubbles came to the top, I was a little worried it was going to overflow. The nose from the bottle smells like a brown ale. Lets pour it and you know by now why. The head is not heavy, it does have an almost cream like quality. The color is a deep, thick brown. I cannot even see the bubbler. I find the nose hard to describe other than it smells like a brown ale with heavy alcohol, I hate it when detailed description eludes me. It defiantly has a coffee flavor to it. Coffee with chocolate notes and a dark chocolate after taste. It has a mild acidity to it, but not so much that it's unpleasant to hold in you're mouth. This tastes like a porter to be perfectly honest, which is fine, porter is one of my favorite styles. It's a flavorful beer, not doubt about that. Really seems more like something to be had with food, rather than by itself.Why is it that beer with heavy coffee taste is almost always kind of acidic? Is it the acidity that gives it this flavor, or are the two not mutually exclusive? I suppose I've had some porters that were not particularly acidic that had coffee flavor, certainly some bock, but if it is overwhelmingly coffee is is almost always overwhelmingly acidic. The acidity starts go go away as the beer warms, maybe I should just leave these Trappist beers on the desk for about half an hour before drinking them. This beer is kind of peppery, now that I think about it, not really my thing. I can see by the ring in the middle of the head that the bubbler is in fact doing something.
You know, I had high hopes for this beer, but instead of becoming a lawyer it became regional manager for Belks. It's not a failure, but there are a number of beers along the same lines made by craft brewers that are just as good, if not better, it has not quite lived up to the hype. We'll try this again CHIMAY, do not fail me again.

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