Belgium's Most Popular Trappist Beers
It’s 1850. A sixteen monks from the Saint-Sixtus Abbey of Westvleteren climbed to the high plateau of Scourmont, near the Princedom of Chimay to build a new Trappist monastery – the Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont. The monks were part of the Cistercian Order of La Trappe and the order was devoted to self-sufficiency and hard work.
The remote land was gifted to the monks by Prince Joseph of Chimay, who hoped the monks would develop the former pastureland for agricultural use. The monks were successful and gradually expanded their product line to include butter, cheese and bread. By 1862, The monastery had opened a brewery within the Abbey and their first beer was a styled after a Bavarian Doppelbock, but the monks wanted an ale with more character. With the help of Westvleteren, they moved to a top-fermenting yeast that provided a more nourishing and darker ale.
Quality Matters
The beer grew in popularity, largely because of their high-quality ingredients and natural well water from the Abbey grounds. Unfortunately, the copper in the brewery was looted by the Germans in WWI and the brewery was completely destroyed during WWII. The persistent monks rebuilt, though. With the help of the noted brewmaster Jean de Clerk at the Catholic University of Leuven, they developed a unique yeast strain and kicked off a lasting era of prosperity for Chimay, which is now the largest Trappist brewery in Belgium, with annual production of more than 123,000 hectoliters.
Chimay Beers
Chimay’s first signature beer, introduced in 1948 for the Easter holidays, was Chimay Premiére (Red Label), a 7.0% Dubbel. The very same recipe is still used to this day. Premiére is a copper-colored beer with an off-white head and good clarity. Its aromas of fig and banana lead you into flavors of figs, raisins, plums, prunes, toffee and caramel. Its medium-full body, soft carbonation and smooth alcohol make it very drinkable. It’s a natural with cheese, especially the monastery’s fine cheeses, and with a wide range of hearty foods.
The Premiere was followed in 1956 by Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue Label) a 9.0% Quadrupel that was initially a Christmas beer and later went into year-round production. Chimay uses only the very finest ingredients in all its beers. The Grande Réserve cellars amazingly well and can develop for decades in the right conditions. The dark bread and brown sugar nose opens up a range of flavors, including dates, figs, pears, caramel and dried fruit. Its full body, soft texture, delicate carbonation, smooth alcohol and dry finish make it a truly exceptional flagship beer.
Chimay’s Beer Lineup is One of the World’s Best
In 1966, Chimay Cinq Cents (White Label), an 8.0% Tripel, completed the trilogy. Cinq Cents means “500” and was created to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Principality of Chimay. It is golden in color, and often slightly hazy, with a big pillowy white head. Its aroma is spice, floral hops and fruity esters, especially banana. On the palate, flavors include fresh bread, grapes, banana, clove and golden raisins. Medium-bodied with high carbonation, it has a pleasant bitterness that balances well with the beer’s malts and sugars. Quite different than most Tripels, Cinq Cents is a beer not to be missed.
Chimay also makes a 4.8% monk’s beer, which is now bottled and sold outside the monastery as Doree (Chimay Gold). To commemorate the brewery’s 150th anniversary, a 10% Blond Ale called Chimay 150 was released and is now in regular production.
Prior to my first trip to Belgium in 1988, I had only tasted two Belgian beers – Duvel and Chimay Blue Label. Now this is a pretty lofty introduction to Belgian beer, but Chimay was one of the first Belgian beers imported into the U.S. market, along with Duvel and Stella Artois. For me, that first taste of Chimay Blue was like nothing I had ever had before and, while it was a bit of a shock to my unsophisticated palate at first, I liked it more with each successive sip. What I liked best was its complexity. I had never experienced so many interesting flavors in one glass. To this day, Chimay Blue is one of my favorite Belgians. I’m not alone. It is an exceptional example of the brewer’s art.
Aging in Wood
Perhaps the most interesting new development at Chimay is its line of Barrel-aged (Barrique) beers. The beer is a 10.5% ABV version of the Grande Reserve and the type of barrel used to age it changes each year. For its first release in 2016, Cognac barrels with chestnut and oak staves were used. In 2017, it was rum barrels. In 2018, whiskey barrels from the Belgian Owl distillery were used. For the 2019 release, a mix of 60% French oak and 40% American Oak barrels were used. The 2020 was aged in Armagnac casks and for 2021 another type of rum barrel was used. Following the success of Grande Reserve Barrique, Chimay added a barrel-aged Premiere (Red Label) offering.
State-of-the-Art Brewing Processes
While brewing Chimay beers is supervised by monks, most of the brewing operation is staffed by lay workers. The abbey installed a modern state of the art brewhouse to ensure beers of the highest quality and consistency.
Like all beers, Chimay starts with mashing grains to extract fermentable sugars. The spent grains and sweet liquid are separated using a mash press – which literally squeezes out all the liquid. The sweet wort is then transferred to the boil kettle, where it receives hop additions at the beginning and end of the boil. The wort is then put through a centrifuge, where it is cooled down and filtered, before heading to the fermentation tanks where the yeast is added and fermentation begins.
Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont
Chimay beers are all “high fermentation” (top-fermenting) ales that ferment between 64º and 86º F (18 to 30 C) with most of the yeast activity on the surface of the beer, rather than on the bottom, which is common to lagers. After about five days of primary fermentation, the beer is again filtered in the centrifuge before heading into two weeks of cold conditioning, which improves the beer’s stability. Chill haze develops during cold storage, so the beer is filtered once again before being loaded on trucks to go to the bottling plant. Additional yeast and liquid sugar are added and the beer is placed in a warm room for several weeks, where it naturally carbonates in the bottle. It’s a long and precise process, but the quality of the finished product is well worth it.
Chimay Also Make Cheeses (and Good Ones Too)
The Chimay Abbey has been making cheese since 1876. Like the beer, cheese sales raise money for the Abbey’s good works. Chimay currently makes four cheeses:
Chimay À la Biére (with Beer) is a washed-rind cheese that is soaked in Chimay Premier beer
Chimay Classic is a semi-hard cheese that is mild and creamy with a smooth softness
Grande Chimay is pungent and strong with six weeks of aging
Vieux (Old) Chimay is a hard cheese that is aged for at least 18 months and has a bitter tang and flavors of hazelnuts
It goes without saying that Chimay cheeses pair especially well with Chimay beers, as that is what they were designed to be paired with.
A Welcome Guest at the Dinner Table
Chimay beers pair up nicely with a wide variety of foods – from roasts and hearty stews to fish and seafood, cheeses and even desserts. The Cinq Cents (white label) goes well with fish and poultry but can stand up to heartier fare as well, including the Vieux Chimay aged cheese. The Premier (red label) is amazingly versatile in terms of pairing with everything from poultry, stews, and roasted meats to a broad spectrum of cheeses. The Grande Réserve (Blue Label) stands up to hearty meats and rich dishes and is a natural with blue cheeses. As the trend of cooking with and pairing food with beers grows, Belgium is on the leading edge. There are many great discoveries waiting for you where you live as well.
Chimay is arguably the most iconic Trappist brewery in the world. Their quality, their authenticity and their innovation all add up to world-class beers. From 19th century classics to unique barrel-aged releases, they will continue to stand out for years to come. Santé!
