Chimay Blanche

Chimay Blanche
Bières de Chimay

0,33l
8%

As I realized I have had the blue Chimay but never the other ones. The Blanche appears to be the most hopped and driest of the three. I have learned to evade Triples recently as the alcohol usually knocks me down and gets me tired but this is in the name of science, right? I mean.... right?!

The bottle is a standard small brown bottle with the name of te Abbey cast into it. Though a nice move, I heard that it isn't too grand on recycling because this way only the special bottles can go back to the matching brewery.

Trappist beer is brewed in Trappist Monasteries so the only ones that can call themselves to be Trappist brews are Achel, Chimay,Gregorius, La Trappe, Orval, Spencer, Rochefort, Tre Fontane, Westmalle, Westvleteren, and Zundert.

Obviously this bottle has a white label and a white cap. There are discussions on whether one mixes in the yeast of which there is plenty or not. I usually try it once without yeast and then mix in the rest. 

For trying this I chose my traditional Trappist beer glass by Westmalle. 

It pours deep orange yellow with a super fine head od long persisting bubbles.. just how I love it. 

RateBeer goes high for the brew, not as high as for the Bleue but still high. 

The aroma is really nice. We can find honey mixed with fresh flowers and the smell of hay as well as herbs and fine citrus notes all ending in a very nice bouquet of pepper aspects.

The without yeast:

Very sweet start, mixing with fine hoppish tones that then take over pleasantly but allow the citrus tones to linger. Berries dipped in alcohol only to then be submerged into dark chocolate come to mind.

Yeast added:

The fruity tones are higher now and it generally tastes a lot sweeter, alas this dampens the crisp hoppish tones we had before although it adds a certain mellowness to it while chiseling out the overall composition.

I would say I prefer the without yeast added version a TAD bit more because of the confronting clash of sweet and bitter but that might be just imagination. 

Definitely still amongst the best beers around.

Prost!

DMW

Xirdalan

Xirdalan
Baltika-Baku

0,5l
4,8%

Well friends, Winter is coming, it is getting colder and thus the time for cheery sitting on the terrace with a brew in the sun is over... luckily as I hate the sun... :D
So today I bring you something special.... though I'd guess that it isn't special where it comes from...
My esteemed friend and Y Chromosome donor of my Godson Axel has brought me a brew back from his trip to Baku so that I can give you a (the?) beer from Azerbaijan. Wikipedia tells me that the Xirdalan is indeed the most common beer there (It even has a nifty customs/tax sticker thingy). The can informs me that the brewery is part of Carlsberg... seems one can't escape them.

The can is white and blue and reminded me of some Finnish designs... mainly because of the color pattern. I actually like the design.

For the glass, I chose an old handmade round stein that I found on a flea market together with its twin which has gone missing for now.

Do I dare to check RateBeer?  Well I did and the rating is rather low... who would have guessed...

It pours really light and made me wonder whether it's not water after all, alas, once in the glass it was surprising gold with nice foam that didn't dissipate too fast. It is nice and golden and filtered.

The aroma is surprisingly fruity but with some side tones of ash and alcohol. Slight honey and amber scents mix with something weird that I can best describe as cough candy dipped in cheap honey. It isn't unpleasant, just very weird and unexpected. Once in the glass for a while the aroma dissipates and there is not much left.

Wish me luck!

It does start honey-cough candy-ish, then blends into a rather okish lager taste. The alcohol can be found in the taste which isn't hyping me but this is far from bad. There are faint apple tones and next to none bitterness. The taste is definitely better than the aroma. The grainy taste is a bit weird but it grows on me. Not the worst thing I ever sampled!

Thanks, Akseli!

Prost!

DMW