Chimay 2009 VS Chimay 2014

Chimay 2009 VS Chimay 2014

Notice the new label (and my hands when I took the picture)

Hello everyone!

One day at work I noticed a bottle of Chimay Blue in the showcase. Nothing special, except for the fact it was brewed in 2009! Now at this point you might say "Eww Cele that's FIVE YEAR OLD BEER!" or "Put that f***ing thing away before I stick it up your ass!" BUT there's one thing you should know. These high ABV beers (in this case 9%) can be kept in cellars and "matured". Keep in mind, though, the 2009 version standing on the showcase has not quite met the requirements for proper (or any) "cellar"-conditions, so comparing it to the new version was just a fun experiment to make.

Thankfully a friend of mine managed to come along; drinking these alone would've been too much for me. But before tried out the Chimays I chatted a bit with two French tourists visiting Finland for a week, Inez and Jacques ("Jack"), with whom I talked before my friend showed up.

But let's get into business. As you can see in the following pictures, these two varied a massive amount; both in nose and palate. 

Left 2014, right 2009

First things first; the nose. Where as the 2014 had a fresh, malty aroma to it, the 2009 version smelt very yeasty to me, even spoilt. Also, the foam was weak and disappeared almost instantly. The amount of sediment (yeast) was crazy in the old bottling (as you can see in the pictures below).

2014

2009

2009

2014

Regarding taste, I have to admit the older Chimay had a distinctive taste to it. Fair enough, it wasn't a good one, but as if drinking cheap sparkling wine. I somehow got same kind of aromas from it! The 2014 bottle was so much sweeter (which makes sense since the yeast hasn't consumed all sugars) and maltier. Overall it was just better, no doubt about it. Sure, as mentioned before, the 2009 version wasn't cellar conditioned at any times, but still...phooie :D

I should've realized to decant the old bottle so all of the yeast had not gone in the glass, but well, too late now :D

Summa summarum, it was quite an experiment. After the Chimays we had a go at three gins sold at our bar (part of my NY-resolution and with a friend sampling products is WAY better); Gordon's, Bombay and Hendrick's. Out of these three, I ranked them as following:

Best nose: Hendrick's

Best taste: Gordon's

I got to say, Bombay gin had an awful peppery taste and was...quite bad to be honest.

Was fun! :)