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Chimay
The beers are brewed at the Abbaye de Scourmont in the town of Chimay. The abbey isn't particularly old, as far as monasteries go. It was established in 1850, with the brewery being added in the early 1860s. They've also become famous for their "red, white, and blue" spirit, referring to their beers by the color of their bottle caps. The beer that I'm reviewing here, the tripel is also known as the "white", though it is sometimes labeled "Cinq Cents" -- whether you know it as Chimay "white", "tripel", or "cinq cents", they're all the same thing, which is heaven in a bottle.
A right glass for every beer. For Trappist ales, the "right" glass is a big, wide mouthed schooner. Since I have one on hand from Chimay, that's the one I'll use to sample this fine brew. So without further ado, let's carefully commence to pouring (carefully, because this is a live real ale, so it does have yeast sediment. My preferred way to pour a beer like this is to carefully pour about 75% of the beer into a glass, sample and enjoy, then swirl the remaining beer in the bottle and pour it straight into the glass, obviously introducing lots of haze.)
It is hoppy in the flavor, no doubt about it, but like most Trappist tripels, it is also quite sweet and malty. When I taste the Chimay white, my first impression is sweetness. It has a wonderful malt flavor, with just the slightest hint of the sugary aspect that's often attributed to candi sugar (though Chimay probably does not actually use candi sugar -- their recipe is actually a closely held secret, but British beer writers John White and Roger Protz have published some interesting observations and hints, notably that the fermentables probably derive about 70 percent from malt, 20 percent from wheat starch, and 10 percent from dextrose, and that the hops are all pellets and extract oils). The beer is brewed to 17.35 degrees Plato (1071) and has a final alcohol level of 8.0 percent abv. But enough of the geek-speak -- you guys probably aren't trying to homebrew a clone, so this is probably of limited value to you.
Belgium, 1973, Chimay Castle
Belgium, 1984, Abbey Chimay
Belgium, 1987, Virelles Lake, Chimay
Belgium, 2002, Chimay Castle
Guinea Bissau, 2008, Brussel, beer