Westvleteren is a brewery founded in 1838 at The Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Vleteren, Belgium, the Abbey itself dating back to 1260. The beers that the monks brew are widely regarded as the best beers in the world, their Westvleteren XII (or simply 12 for short) is consistently ranked as the world’s best beer. The monks aren’t in the brewing business for riches or glory however. They only b...
It’s remarkable how the stars can align sometimes. With a remarkable, almost what could be referred to as biblical timing, it turns out that two of my favourite brewers are celebrating their 150th anniversaries this year. Both Coopers Brewery in Adelaide and Chimay – brewed by Trappist Monks in Belgium – both started way back in 1862. Both were also started by men of religion too. Thomas Coo...
The last Chimay this week, the Chimay Grand Reserve, also known as the Chimay Blue (for the blue label). The Trappist monastery at Chimay in the south west of Belgium has a long history of brewing beer. The Blue label is the last of the Chimay range, and I’ve been using a lot of music references in these reviews so one more won’t hurt: if Chimay Blue were to be compared to the music of Meatloaf, ...
Ahh…another week, another Chimay beer taste. This week I delved back heaven sent beers that are from the Chimay Trappist Monastery and popped the top of the Chimay Tripel, also known as Chimay White, because of the label colour. It is essentially the middle beer in the very excellent Chimay range that varies in alcoholic content, and price, from Red to White onto their top beer the Blue labe...
A word of warning on this column, if you are more interested paying your bills than drinking quality beer, then there is not much point in reading on….however, if you’re quite willing to relive your University/Apprenticeship lifestyle and only eat instant noodles for a week in order save enough to have a few beers on Friday night, then read on…. After nearly 40 years I’ve managed to wo...