Tasting notes from last night’s debauchery

Last night was the first Twitter Taste Live beer tasting. We tried four of the more commonly available or prominent Trappist Ales. Here’s the lineup with my tasting notes. To see all tweets from the tasting, go here.

First up was Chimay Cinq Cents, a tripel style ale from Chimay just outside of Paris, France. Decent carbonation with a nice blonde color. Spicy and fruity, with hints of banana and some earthiness to it as well that I could not place. Chimay has always been a favorite of mine. I learned that this particular beer was introduced in the 1960s. I’d have thought the monks would have gone for this style centuries ago!

Second up was Chimay Premiere, or Red as we called it by both the color of the label and the beer. Very warming and full of malty goodness. Molasses and Belgian spice are prominent. Still some nice fruity esters coming from the yeast. This one is far more drinkable than Cinq Cents, though both are quite good.

Next was Westmalle Dubbel. Westmalle is located within an abbey in Belgium and is not open to visitors, though they do have a cafe nearby where you can enjoy the beer as well as donate to the monks via swag purchase. By far this was the agreed favorite of the evening. Very complex in aroma and flavor. Mocha aroma, or that of unsweetened cocoa powder. Some spiced plum, lemon zest, and corriander in the flavor. Mine was a bit hyperactive; the beer foamed right up upon uncapping. But a little cleanup later and I was set to enjoy this wonderful dubbel ale.

And finally, Westmalle tripel. I had this not too long ago, but was highly anticipating trying it again last night. Very light in color and body, with a campagne-like carbonation. Very strong presence of citrus zest, as well as typical Belgian spices. Very dry, which made it less easy to drink than the others. Still, an A+ beer.

My overall ranking of the beers:

1. Westmalle Dubbel
2. Westmalle Tripel
3. Chimay Primiere
4. Chimay Cinq Cents