Barrel aged Chimay

I did. It had good barrel characters with some vanilla and dark fruits. Wasn't blown away though

 

we talking about Blue?

 

what are the details on the aging and whatnot (type of barrels, length of aging etc)? have not seen anything on this and am very interested.

 

Wow, sounds and looks amazing, I need to get my hands on some...

 

We beery folk are going to end up like American Chardonnay drinkers circa 15-20 years ago. All we taste is oak... But I'm very interested to try this.

 

Oak and Hops can both cover a lot of flaws!

 

Funny thing though: in germany, the wine world is moving more and more away from oaky, heavy, intense wines towards elegant, subtle ones, while the beer world is doing the exact opposite here

 

2 different beasts.
oak will soften out beer. in fact, it can mask production flaws.
high abv beer like Chimay Blue will soften really nicely in barrels. and it adds depth, not a throat punch.
if you oak improperly (too long, too hot, too new of a barrel, no tasting/blending) then you are heavy and intense.

 

I found it : 13€ for a 750. I will check it out next weekend !

 

Not in my grocery (which is average at best for selection). Where'd you find it, a better grocery, specialist, or ??

 

Rotsaert

 

First of all, you don't barrel age soft,subtle,easy going beers or wines. Usually.... Barrel aged Helles, Kölsch,Elbling,Gutedel or Müller Thurgau does not make that much sense,right? Stuff that is already intense,fat, rich and deep is put in barrels, like Cimay blue. And yes it may mellow out a bit,but it also gets more complex,deep and therefore also "heavier"if you now what I mean.

 

i disagree.
you can barrel age saisons and berliner weisses. hell, you can barrel age/ferment a lager.

 

and where did you find this magic? and you're sure it isn't one of the dozen re-labeled Chimay bleus out there?

 

It's for sale at Rotsaert in Zedelgem, near Bruges.
The re-labeled chimay blue is in 330 ml bottles printed with the same design as the 1956 bottles, packed in crates per 12. The crates are also the same design as in 1956, but half the size.
See my pic of the oak aged here : http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/215/202556/

 

oh shit...
think i saw it at a grocery store in antwerp. d'oh.