1001 Beers

Beer No: 46/1001
Page No: 347
Category: Blond

Happy Mother's Day all.

For Mother's Day, I of course headed over to my parents house where my brother, my dad, and I cooked up crab legs and steak and enjoyed them with a nice salad, some bread, and some good beer.  And before someone says something, yes, I know you shouldn't serve Chimay in a PINT glass.  But, my parents are wine drinkers and don't have any Belgian beer glasses.  I probably should have used a wine glass like I did for tomorrow's beer, but for the Chimay, it tasted just fine out of a Stone pint glass.

The Chimay was not paired with my dinner, but instead had with the appetizers that I provided - one was cream cheese with an apricot chili pepper jam which was sinfully good and the other was a hunk of Chimay cheese.  I didn't know Chimay had their hands in cheese making, but I saw two bricks at Whole Foods last week when prepping for my Spotted Pig burger, so I picked up the cheese that had beer added and it was very good too.  We ate most of it on Cinco de Mayo and I was going to break out the Chimay then, but stuck to the Mexican beers and wisely saved the Chimay for me to drink all by myself today.

Paired with the steak and crab legs, I figured a darker beer would work well and the 10 Commandments from Lost Abbey worked wonders.  The raisins and spice paired perfectly with the lighter crab legs and blended with the steak as well.  Just like red wine goes with red meats, this darker 10 Commandments really complemented the steak well.  We finished the night with a brownie-crusted cheesecake I made last night which would have paired perfectly with the Bourbon County stout I gave to my mom in her Mother's Day basket, but she wanted to save it for another time, so I settled for some water while everyone else enjoyed coffee with the cheesecake (I don't drink coffee or caffeine).

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Chimay Triple / Blanche (White) from Chimay

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours orange-yellow with slight haze, good carbonation, and small to medium head. Aromas of citrus, spice, malts, banana, and caramel. Taste is complex mixing the caramel malts with a good hop citrus and nice spiciness to balance it all out. Very well done, easy to drink triple. Those monks know what they’re doing.

Beer No: 19/1001
Page No: 654
Category: Dark

Sometimes, there's just something comforting about going back to what you know.  And you always know what you're going to get with Chimay Blue (and of course Red and White as well).  Last night, after a fun trip to the Bruery where we lost at trivia due to some really tough (and some absurd) questions, we stopped by BevMo and stocked up on good beer.  There was Chimay, Lost Abbey, Allagash, etc. - all waiting to be consumed.  But it was all for naught, we needed food too, so we stopped at Albertsons, and bought some cheap beer, since I guess the good beer would need to be saved for another time.

So maybe tomorrow I'll open the Lost Abbey Angel's Share - I'm not sure what else I have in the fridge from the book other than that right now.  But back to the Chimay.  Malty, spicy, sweet, fruity, it's a good beer - every time.  It goes well with almost any food and it's just a perfect beer to always have lying around when company comes over.  For a little history on Chimay, we turn to 1001 Beers:

"For those who find it odd that monks produce beer, a little history lesson is in order.  Since the Middle Ages and possibly earlier, monasteries have been centers of brewing, providing citizens with nutritious ales that were often far safer than the local drinking water because any contaminants would have been removed during the boiling process.  The Trappist edict dictates that the monks are prohibited from accepting charity and must therefore participate in commerce in order to both survive and fund any charitable works."

This is just part of the full page they have on Chimay Blue - they also talk about the brewery itself and of course about Chimay Blue.  Just a wonderful book - even if you aren't going to try all 1001.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Chimay Bleue (Blue) from Chimay

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 12/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours dark brown with off-white/tan head which lasts a while. Aromas of malts, sugars, caramel, and fruits. Complex flavors of more malts, fruits, and spices. It’s a standard around my household - always a good Belgian to go to that most company will enjoy. Not too over-the-top with the flavors, but a good balance that works well with most meals