In the first Bier essentials this year I looked at a beer from the only Trappist brewery outside of Belgium. This week I’ll wax lyrical about Chimay, one of the Belgian Trappists which is based in Scourmont Abbey in the Chimay municipality. Possibly one of the more well known Trappist breweries, Chimay has a high reputation for the quality of their beer.

As a side note, it’s nice to explore the philosophy behind Trappist brewers. Trappist monks are from an order of the Roman Catholic Church that follows the rule of St Benedict. As such they value stability, fidelity to monastic life and obedience. They are also well known for their silence; whilst they don’t take a vow of silence, they only talk when absolutely necessary and idle talk is discouraged. Where the brewing comes in is an ethic of hard work, so Trappist Monks make products such as beer to raise the money necessary to maintain and run the abbey. Any profit above the needs of the abbey goes to local charities in the area.

Chimay brew three readily available ales most commonly known as the blue, white and red. This week I’m looking at the white, also known as the tripel. With more hops than the other two readily available Chimay ales, it has a nice crisp taste with a subtle spiciness. Despite the higher level of hops it’s not too bitter, and almost takes on some wine-like characteristics. A subtle perfume like aroma pleasantly tickles the nose. The Chimay white is a very enjoyable beer, which I would highly recommend. However, as with all Trappist (and other high strength beer) it is adviseable to exercise caution when drinking Chimay White given that it is 8% alcohol by volume.

It is also worth trying the other Chimay beers, both the blue and red are very nice. Chimay also makes cheeses, which whilst I’m yet to try, I’d generally encourage anyone to try given a chance. If they’re anything like the beer they should be very good indeed.