I recently tried Boulevard Brewing's "The Sixth Glass" beer. It's a trappist Belgian style beer and was fantastic, but the date/fig taste became a little too strong as I drank more of it, and the peppery finish grew old after the 1st beer. Other than that, it was a great brew and will buy it again and remember to only drink one per sitting. Is Chimay similar to that? Or are the typical trappist notes a little more subtle? I'm asking because a 4 pack of it is $20 and I don't want to waste money.
Chimay is solid. I had a 3L for my graduation. I don't think of Chimay as peppery but its been a long time since I have had it. Its just a pretty typical BSDA. I say if you have never had it you should definitely try it.
I've never had Boulevard. However Chimay is a classic trapist beer, that is amazing and IMO world class. It has been made by monks who care for beer like their children and will rise in the middle of the night to make sure that the yeast does not make the wort temperature too high. I've never had a bad Chimay, so no you would not be wasting your money. Also to the best of my recollection i don't recall a date or fig flavor associated with it.
Chimay Blue is one of the most well-respected beers in the world. It rather sets the standard for most when it comes to Belgian Strong Dark Ales (BDSAs). You will get much of the date/fig, dark fruit experience you get from the Sixth Glass, which I also love. I'm at work and don't feel like waxing on about BDSAs, but the short answer is that no, Chimay will not be a waste of money. Don't buy the full four pack; they're easy enough to find that you can usually find a pace that sells them individually. Buy one. If you like it, buy more. They also age fantastically (had an 08 two weeks ago that was a stand-out of the tasting).
I am a big fan of Chimay as well. I assume we're all talking about Chimay Blue right? I'm not sure exactly what has changed, but Chimay doesn't have the pop that it used to for me. I much prefer drinking Rochefort or Achel, or even St. Bernardus, which have all seemed to surpass Chimay IMO. But I love it too and will continue buying all 3 main ones!
6th glass is a great quad/strong dark, but I don't find it to be remotely similar to Chimay blue. I think Chimay has more yeast character, and is slightly less sweet. I've had some pretty boozy samples of 6th glass as well. I'd say 6th glass has more caramel flavors in my opinion as well. Chimay is certainly worth the price, but if you can find rochefort, Achel, or some of the other trappists you might be even more pleased. I even prefer st. bernardus beers to Chimay. They are about the closest thing to trappist brewery without the label.
Yeah, 6th Glass was very sweet but it still was a fantastic brew. I'm going to try Chimay Blue and look for st. bernardus because I think i've seen it before
The big change with chimay came about 10 years ago when they went from open fermenters to conical. Chimay red has never been the same since then in my opinion. http://www.beer-pages.com/protz/features/chimay Roger Protz mentions this in the last 2 paragraphs of the above link
The first thing you should know is that "the sixth glass" isnt a trappist beer! There are only 7 in the world and thats not one. Chimay on the other hand is! Trappist doesnt cause for a certain type of flavor profile or anything of that nature. Trappist simply means its either brewed by monks in a monastary or in their watch. All Trappist breweries make no profit from their beer sales. All the money they make goes directly into their monastery.
Thank you, I was looking around too. I haven't seen that specific article, but many have commented on the beers changing or diminishing in quality.
St. Bernardus Abt 12 is a phenominal beer. I don't think you'll be disappointed. It might come across as a little differnent and more "rustic" than 6th glass, but it will have even more complexity.
Have you tried St. Bernardus ABT 12, Achel Bruin Extra, Rochefort 10, Or Koeningshoeven quad? I think all of those far surpass Chimay Blue.
Nice, let me know what you think. I'd be surprised if you didn't like it more. A blind taste test would be a cool experiment. My favorite Strong Dark by far is Achel Bruin Extra. But I love Pannepot and recently had De Ranke Noir, which was also great. Belgian Strong Dark is my favorite beer style so I love to try new ones!
With the addition of Austria's Engelszell, there are now eight Trappist breweries. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articl...hth-trappist-brewery-launches-in-austria.html
they aren't very similar but i think based on what you are looking for chimay would be a fine bet it is considerably 'lighter' tasting and has a much stronger fruit taste to me, with much less peppery finish. the sixth glass is pretty hot in comparison
I personally was disappointed by The Sixth Glass. I've had much smoother quads. Chimay Blue, while not a quad so I don't see the comparison, is much better. Go buy it now.
From memory Chimay Blue had more dark fruit character than The 6th Glass. I would probably pick Chimay in a blind tasting as better, but that's my better instincts talking. I just picked up a 750 of Alesmith's Decadence 2012 (a Quad) and I've very excited to drink it.
I love Chimay (I'm a HUGE Belgium beer fan for that matter) and I'm a big Boulevard fan, can't say that sixthGlass reminds me of Chimay. As good as 6th is, there's something special with the way they do beer in Belgium. Other than the fact that they seem to like a big head on beer, I find most of their brews to be nearly flawless.(Belgium beers) Though not a Quad, and not the highest rated beer from their brewery, I think Trappist Rochefort #8 is the best pound for pound beer out. Good to see you trying new beers. I hope sixthGlass was able to make you a fan of both Boulevard, as well as Belgium style beers.
My friend loves the 6th Glass so any recommendation of similar beers would be appreciated. He liked Rochefort 10, St Bernadus 12, and said Avery the Reverend was OK and Sweetwater BSP Quad he was unsure of.
I am just getting into quads. Loved Rochefort 10, have a bottle of 6th glass waiting in my fridge. Guess I will have to try it sooner rather than later.
Too true. When the new brwew house came on line the quality of Chimay Red nosedived. What's weird is, considering itis now brewed on more modern equipment, that it's become less stable, turning sourish pretty damn quick. A real shame, because it used to be a beer I bought a lot.
I used to buy 2 cases at a time. The red was so dam good. I wish they would go back to open fermenters and try to recapture that old flavor!
