Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Running and Chimays

I got out for a 3 miler last night. Opted to do this one at around an 8:30 pace, which is a little faster than my standard running speed that I can settle into easily. Due to exhaustion and my lack of running lately As a precautionary measure, I stopped and stretched at not only the halfway mark, but the 3/4 mark. Still, got it done. Knee feels OK today. This 3 mile cap may be the way to go for now. (I am SO jonesin' for going on a long run.. this just kills me!). I was supposed to do W2D3 of the pushup challenege last night. I'll do that tonight soon. LOL


On to the Chimay..



Chimay beers are Belgian style beers. They're made by Trappist monks, and that's as authentic as you can get.
For full disclosure, I'm not big into Belgians.. But, I can differentiate good from bad, don't get me wrong.

Most of my favorite Belgian beer comes from Ommegang, one place I'm going to have to visit in the near future. (It's not that far from me, I really have no good excuse why I haven't gone.) The glass I'm showing here is actually an Ommegang glass. hehe


I've heard good things about Chimay, so I thought I'd give them a go. Both of these came in a "big" bottle, so it was a good excuse to drink more sample the beers as they warmed up.

The Premiere Ale (red bottle) was the first one I had one night. Had a bit of a nutty flavor, I thought. Also had some yeast mixed in, which I really like. I know not everyone likes the extra "character" of having yeast in their beer, but I do. (So take that!)

The Cinq Cents (white bottle) was one I had last week. It was drier and far more hoppy than the other. Not IPA hoppy, mind you, but there were hops in it. It was a more golden color, and also had some yeast in it (I thought the red had more yeast, though)

Both of these beers are premium. There's a lot of character and tastes in them that I just don't have the palette depth to figure out. Both are incredibly smooth, and good tasting. For Belgians, they're top grade (even better than some of Ommegang's). Probably not good beers for the beginner, though.

I think I preferred the spiciness and hops of the Cinq Cents. Of course, those beers seem to match up well with me in the springtime, where as the other may match up well in the late fall and early winter.

Would I drink them again? Of course. They're delicious. (There's very little I wouldn't drink, sadly). I'll even recommend them, for someone looking for a Belgian. They probably won't make the standard rotation, though, just due to my preferences.

Keep on rockin', everyone! Happy April Fool's Day, too!!

13 comments:

Brian said...

Big fan of trying new beers, Ill have to look for it! Keep up the good runnin!

X-Country2 said...

I want to like beer. I really really do, but as appealing as you make it sound, I just can't do it. Guess I'll have to stick to vodka.

Sun Runner said...

Yesterday I sampled a series of the fine beers of the Arbor Brewing Company, namely, Arborealis (double IPA, 7.5% ABV, 83 IBUs), Red Snapper IPA, and Espresso Love (coffee-infused stout).

The Arborealis is a fairly new addition to the ABC lineup and so far is not available in bottled form. As far as IPAs go it is one of the tastiest I've ever had.

It was a nice way to end the day.

Shannon said...

I thought this post was going to be about you running and finding cool names for the various "chimneys" you passed on your way.....

I'm glad you enjoy beer, I'm a dirty martini kind of chick. btw, extra dirty....

Denise said...

I love chimmay!! Did you try the blue label?

Anonymous said...

Not a big beer drinker, but glad you enjoyed them. Keep sticking with the 3 miles, you'll be able to slowly build up before you know it. Hang in there.

tfh said...

Not good beer for beginners = thanks for the warning. Not a beginner, but my palate is not beer-sophisticated.

Cindy said...

best thing about the chimay? alcohol content! haha just kidding. did you ever watch the drinking travel show, three sheets? i learned more about beer on that show than anywhere else in my life, but i'm still more of a wine drinker.

joyRuN said...

Uh, the beer look pretty?

One day I'd like to be able to say that I can settle into an 8:30 pace. Glad the knee held up.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Good reviews, brother! I brew my own beer and happen to have two Noble Trappist Ales fermenting right now - that's 10 gallons of beer, brother, so it had better turn out good!

The last beer I bottled - just a few weeks ago - was an Ommegang clone; of the Hennepin, to be exact. I actually drunk blogged about this a week or two ago: I compared mine to a bottle of the original while I was blogging. (Mine tasted somewhat like the original, but not a whole lot. Mine was still good, though.)

Chimays are pricey - you forgot to mention that! So are Ommegangs. That's the reason I started home brewing in the first place.

I KEPT home-brewing because I enjoy it. Nothing like brewing up a batch whilst drinking a finished product!

Sun runner (aka, Sarah (D-MI)) also home-brews.

Viper blogged about visiting the Ommegang brewery a few months ago, by the way.

Mel-2nd Chances said...

glad the knee is hanging in there! Keep it up, will do you some good in the long run ;) (pun intended...)

Marcy said...

I'm so LMAO at Shannon! I was thinking the same thing! HAHAHA!

Jes said...

Oh my God I love the red label Chimay. Like, LOOOOVE. I really would marry it if I could.

But I'm already engaged to my other love, triple karmeliet, which I can't recommend highly enough.

Stupid Korea and its' crap yellow beers!! GRRRR!!!