#46 Chimay Blanche

Name: Blanche/Cinq Cents/Tripel
Brewery: Chimay (Belgium)
Style: Abbey Tripel
ABV: 8%
Source: The Grove (Auckland)

OK, to be quite honest this is going to be a dud post. I just drank this Chimay with lunch at The Grove, and I was having such a good time that I totally forgot to make any notes or even think about the flavours I was tasting. I can tell you that it was a bloody nice, and that it had typical Belgian charactaristics – banana, bubblegum, raisins, and a hint of bitterness. I can also confirm that it was relatively easy-drinking for a trappist beer, but strong enough to get me quite tiddly on an empty stomach.

After I drank it I ate some crayfish and quail and pheasant and some other meat that I can’t remember… probably because of the Chimay and the Hallertau Statesman that I had next. God dammit, it was a good lunch.

So that’s that. Apologies for the non-description, but it’s a sunny Friday afternoon and I assume that any beer enthusiasts will be out drinking beer and not reading this blog anyway. I’m off to Whatipu on the West Coast for the weekend now, hopefully via a good liquor store where I can stock up on some treats.

Speaking of treats… How is this for an awesome dessert idea? I’m planning to make one over the weekend: http://philcook.net/beerdiary/2011/04/15/8-wired-istout-ice-cream-float/ - so good!!!

#13 Ben Middlemiss Nota Bene

Name: Nota Bene
Brewer: Ben Middlemiss (Manukau, New Zealand)
Style: Belgian Abbey Ale
ABV: 8.7%
Source: Glengarry Ponsonby

I have just taken about 3 sips of this and there’s a lovely warm alcohol feeling at the back of my throat. That warm alcohol feeling is telling me that I better start typing quickly because if I wait until the end of the beer then my post will be gibberish.

This one’s a bit exciting for me because I’ve never had a Ben Middlemiss beer before. I picked it up at Glengarry’s today – and I’m going to be honest here – mostly because it came in a small bottle, and when you need to buy a craft beer every day, small bottles are very appealing.

I’m really glad I did though! It’s quite surprising – a Belgian-style abbey ale with heaps going on. It’s fruity (oranges, apples and cherries?), yeasty, sweet-but-not-too-sweet, and has a pleasing sour tang at the finish, along with that lovely alcohol heat. The aroma is beautiful, like sticking my nose in a dollar mix bag of sour lollies and bananas, along with something really savoury that I can’t quite put my finger on.

It’s too late to figure it out now because I’ve just polished it off, and although I’m feeling significantly drunker, I can’t help but wish it was a big bottle after all…