UPDATED: DEC 31, 2021 Pours a deep, dark brown coloration with a large, creamy head. Smells of bready, caramel, slightly roasted malt dark fruit, with rich notes of raisin, plum and fig, as well as some chocolate, spice and hints of licorice. Taste is an excellent balance of bready, caramel, slightly roasted malt, chocolate and rich dark fruit, with notes of raisin, plum and fig, as well as distinct spice, with notes of clove, nutmeg, anise, licorice and just a hint of candi sugar and earthy, bitter hops. Finishes bittersweet, with a medium sweetness and some dark fruit and spice lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and medium carbonation. This makes for a superb, rich and complex Belgian Strong Ale with an excellent balance of sweet and just slightly roasted and bitter notes, as well as a great body and mouthfeel. The focus is clearly on the malts and esters here, with a rich bready and caramel presence and distinct notes of dark fruit and spice, while subtle hops add just a touch of earthy, bitter notes to this that balances it out very nicely. Overall this makes for an incredibly enjoyable example of the style that's quite rich without feeling cloying or overly boozy at all, hiding its ABV very well,

UPDATED: DEC 25, 2021 Chimay Grande Réserve Bleue 9.0%. Dark caramel malt aroma, full bodied, dark malt, toffee, raisins, spices, smooth sweet complex finish. Stunning Belgian Strong Ale from Chimay, Hainaut 🇧🇪

UPDATED: DEC 17, 2021 Envejecida durante 5 años en bodega, a 17ºC. Servida en el cáliz de Chimay. De color marrón muy oscuro, con destellos color rubí. Espuma compacta de color marfil, de buena persistencia. Aroma a malta tostada, notas a café y fruta madura (uvas pasas y cereza). Se percibe un aroma “térreo” y a madera. Aroma muy característico. En boca cuerpo completo, carbonatación media/baja (con el tiempo quizás ha perdido). Recuerdos a vino tinto. Sabor dulce de entrada, caramelo, algo de plátano y pasas. Notas a madera y final largo, con notas a licor y presencia sutil del alcohol. Cerveza de gran carácter, para tomar muy lentamente. Buena experiencia la guarda de 5 años.

UPDATED: DEC 7, 2021 Robe brune avec un liseré de mousse fine, légère et brune Senteurs de kirsch, de caramel, de pruneaux, de lie de vin et de cerise griotte Première gorgée très ronde, portée sur le pruneau et le kirsch, avec un bel alcool fin façon liqueur. Des accents de caramel et de cerise griotte se développent sur la fin avec des points de sirop d'érable Une douceur et une saveur complexe et très reconnaissable, c'est un petit bijou gustatif qui se boit évidemment l'hiver. Avec 9 degrés au compteur, c'est une bière de dégustation qui se savoure plus sur un fauteuil au coin du feu qu'en maillot sur une paillote ! Chapeau bas à Chimay pour cette excellente bière trappiste, excessivement réputée et connue mais néanmoins dans le panthéon des plus grandes bières belges !!

UPDATED: NOV 29, 2021 Draught at Aarhus Street Food. Dark brown, almost black, with a long-lasting foamy beige head. Aroma is malty, very yeast, spicy. Very clean. Taste is well-balanced. Sweet malty notes balanced by the high alcohol and spices. Notes of dried fruit, high in spices, well rounded by the high alcohol content, slightly bitter finish. Texture is medium oily, low carbonation. 7-5-8-4-16

UPDATED: NOV 26, 2021 Alles lässt zunächst nicht auf ein Bier schließen. 0,75-Liter-Flasche mit Naturkorken verschlossen. Das Bier hat eine sehr dunkle Farbe. Der Geruch erinnert eher an Sekt oder Wein. Auch geschmacklich würde man nicht gleich auf ein Bier tippen. Sekt, eine Spur Sherry, Alkohol, sehr viel Alkohol (die brutalen 9 % schmeckt man deutlich), leicht röstige Malznote, relativ trocken. Insgesamt könnte das aber, für ein Bier dieses extremen Kalibers, deutlich geschmacksintensiver und vielschichtiger sein. Obwohl einige besondere Sachen auf der Zutatenliste stehen (Zucker, Weizenstärke, Gewürze) denke ich, dass man ein ähnliches Geschmacksspektrum auch ganz langweilig, konventionell und damit reinheitsgebotskonform erreichen kann.

UPDATED: NOV 20, 2021 Review: 0,33l bottle of Chimay Grande Réserve, a Strong Ale (Bleue / Blue) 9% vol. On the pour, well fuck me, the carbonation is out of control, loads of it, not leaving a whole lot left in the glass to finish off when most of it is gone to the bubbles. FFS. When it all settles, a massive froth and creamy white head appears, with a dark purple look, like a plum. Looks pretty good once it all calms down. Very good lacing, all over the glass, expected what with all that foam. Left the second one on the fridge for a bit to see if it made any difference to the pour. It did, much better on the pour, still though not getting the Chimay tulip glass full, which is a tad bit disappointing, and a much smaller head than the first bottle. Still creamy though and pitch black in colour. Looks very smart… On the nose it is very, very fruity, getting a really nice aroma, very pleasant. Also hints of black currant/red berry/plums. Yeasty and dark malts, with toffee and caramel, lovely. Nice on the nose. Onto the taste, very, very sweet taste coming from the barley malts and caramel, also very hoppy, overly hopped, which I find pretty hard to digest. True to form, a Belgian sour. Also can get the dark fruits. Later on it all goes a bit flat, and its another Belgian I can not seem to get acquainted with. Not enjoyable for me. The yeast is also strong, hitting you near the end, bit light headed after these two bottles. I think if I had a good few of these in a pub I’d be off my head and I might even enjoy them! Very strong! Bit dry in the mouth. Like a red wine, a hard hitting version. Fruity, plumy and cherry kind of taste. My mother, a big red wine drinker, loved this beer. A glass of wine, but stronger. Taste is so so but top marks to kickability, powerful stuff. Overall, by the end I did get into it a little more and started to enjoy it, so perhaps I need a crate of them to sample next time, over a long evening. Have to revisit then, perhaps a good beer to get for a special one off celebration or for Christmas.

UPDATED: OCT 10, 2021 Flaska 330 ml från Systembolaget. Doft av torkad frukt, banan och örter. Rödbrun med luftigt vitt skum. Smak av torkad frukt, banan, örter och choklad. Passar bra till ost. Lättdrucken trots att den har så hög alkoholhalt.

UPDATED: SEP 30, 2021 0.33 bottle from Maxi, Belgrade. Contains sugar. Pours dark brown color with a huge foamy head. Sweet malt aroma. Beautifully balanced taste. Perfect sweetness, malty, extremely drinkable. Hazelnut note, light grains. Hoppy palate. 9% alcohol but feels so easy. What a beautiful Belgian beer! Flawless.

Great Beer, incredible with chocolate! Persistente e dal colore quasi nero. Ottimo aroma ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone