Chimay Grande Réserve

Brewery: Bières de Chimay S.A.

Type: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Alcohol: 9%

Country: Belgium

This is the beer I decided to toast in the new year with. I had been putting off having this one fr quite a while as it seemed like a special occasion beer. Well new years seemed like a special enough one for me. Pours a dark brown and totally opaque. The head was insane on this one, almost four fingers, but it dissipates quickly leaving behind a nice lacing and foam on the top. The smell is of caramel, bananas, other fruits. It is of course a very Belgian smelling beer but probably one of the most pleasant and balanced I have tried. There is a nice hop nuance that offsets all the fruitiness. The taste is nice and sweet with a combination of fruit and spice, the textbook example of a Belgian yeast taste. A caramel and bread flavor is balanced by a nice bitterness in the beer which i am not used to in this type.  The mouth taste is amazingly smooth and creamy. There is absolutely no way you could tell this was a 9% alcohol beer without reading it. You pick up zero alcohol taste. I can taste why this beer is so highly regarded.