hammondc said:
I want to try Chimay. The local store has the blue label and red label. Whats the diff? I don't like the really fermented tatsing non-carbonated stuff like corsendonk. That stuff tastes like old tea to me.
Chimay is actually similar to Corsendonk, but I've always preferred Chimay. It's the best common Trappist ale I can think of off the top of my head.
I forget which color is which... one of them is a "single" ale. It'll be blond in color with a little sweetness to it. The other is a "double" ale, made with roasted malt. It's got a similar touch of sweetness with a solid caramelized malt flavor. Both of them have little carbonation, have a strong malt taste, and aren't heavily hopped.
There's also a triple ale, "Cing Cents" with an off-white label. That one's my personal favorite. It's similar to the single, but heavier with a stronger flavor. I'd describe the triple as "fluffy".
Another nice Trappist ale I've discovered recently is Koeningshoven. It's Dutch, rather than Belgian, but is made in the same styles as Chimay. It's quite a bit cheaper than Chimay, $6-7/bottle. It's about on par with the Canadian knock-offs from Unibrou (Maudite, La Fin du Monde, etc.), but much better in my opinion. I've never been all that impressed with Unibrou, and while I used to buy it just because it was so much cheaper than Chimay I doubt I'll be buying any more as long as I can get Koningshoeven.
Ok, now back to beer. Well, if you can call this stuff beer. I picked up some of this stuff called "Samichlaus Bier" at a local place about a week ago. It's a vintage doppelbock from Austria. The stuff I got was bottled in 2005. They make it once a year on 12/6 and age it (in wood?) for 10 months before bottling. It's about $5 for an 11.2oz bottle and 14% alcohol. No, that's not a typo. It's 14%. It's immensely tasty. It's a little sweet like a typical doppelbock, but not annoyingly so like some doppelbocks. The body of course is quite heavy, and it's distinctively more warming than your average beer.
