Info From Chimay

[Dave Savoie]

Dear Sir,
We thank you very much for your interest in our Chimay Trappist Beers.
Our yeast is a particularity of the quality of our Ales. And we want to keep the control of our yeast strain. It's the main reason why we don't give it or sell it, even for a non-commercial purpose. An internal rule forbids us to distribute our yeast. We can just say that for the second fermentation, we use the Chimay yeast, as it is used in main fermentation. The Chimay Yeast is not a lager yeast, it is a very specific yeast isolated by Father Theodore a long time ago. Actually, after the second fermentation, the yeast will not really be the same than the yeast in fermentation. The ethanol stress, the pressure, and the lack of nutriment will induce a modification in the yeast metabolism. And the viability of the yeast will decrease quickly in those conditions.  
 
A slight deposit of yeast is present in all Chimay bottles due to the refermentation process. That is why we recommend to pour the beer in one go, being careful to leave one centimetre of beer in the bottle.
 
So enjoy the chimay!
 
We stay at your disposal for any further information.
 
Best regards.
 
Anaïs Jacqmin
P.O. Nathalie Roulet,
Marketing Coordinator
Export Department
 
Bières de Chimay S.A.
route Charlemagne 8
6464 Baileux - Belgium
Tel +32 60 21 03 11
Fax +32 60 21 34 22

[Kyle]

All this talk of Chimay has had me thinking:

I will attempt to brew a Chimay Red clone. I will be buying the approximate liquid yeast (Wyeast 1214) and then will also contribute some of it to the yeast library. I've seen vastly different "clone" recipes, so not a lot of confidence there. But I did a make an experimental Belgian strong ale in the past that had some similarities to the Red, so with this yeast it should be close-ish.

Any ingredient suggestions?

MMM Chimay

[Dave Savoie]

from what ive read on the internet the Chimay clone recipe in my Clone brews book is spot on

[Shawn]

While there are a lot of recipes for Dubbels out there that have lots of ingredients (especially in the specialty grain category), generally most Trappist beer recipes are quite simple. In the case of a Dubbel, I would assume Chimay mostly uses Pilsner malt and dark Belgian candi syrup (which is not the same as the dark rocks, BTW), which adds a lot of the dark fruit character to the style.

I bottled a Dubbel a couple months ago that I've only started drinking recently... hard for me to compare at all, since we don't have access to Chimay. I do have a couple of Westmalle Dubbels which I'd like to get into as a comparison; the one I made used the Unibroue yeast.

"Brew Like a Monk" talks a good deal about all the Trappist breweries in turn; I'll take a look after work and see if they mention anything about Chimay Red.

[Dave Savoie]

10 Lbs Maris Otter
4oz Belgian Aromatic Malt
8oz Belgian Cara-Munich Malt
1oz Chocolate Malt
1.125 Lbs Clear Belgian Candi Sugar

1.5 Oz Tettnanger @ 4% @ 60 Min
1/4oz Styrian Goldings @ 15 min
1/4oz German Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 15 Min


(Ive read legally its ok to post recipes from books online

From Tess and Mark Szamatulski "Clone Brews"

[Shawn]

I've got that book too... I've never made a recipe from it yet; maybe some of their beers taste very similar to the commercial product.

But MO in a Belgian Dubbel? And clear candi sugar? It may make a tasty beer, but a Chimay Red?

[Dave Savoie]

yup from all the posts ive read this is very very close to the real deal I have brewed one from the book the Old peculier and it to date has been my fave beer Ive brewed

[Shawn]

I guess my question about that recipe is (and I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here) what is supposed to give the dark fruit flavor and aroma? I know CaraMunich can give some, but you'd think 1/2 lb wouldn't give a lot in that regard. Seems like most Dubbel recipes have either Dark Belgian Candi Syrup and/or Special B, for this reason.

Only one way to find out for sure, I guess... brew and do a blind taste test.

[Hawoh]

I've got that book too... I've never made a recipe from it yet; maybe some of their beers taste very similar to the commercial product.

But MO in a Belgian Dubbel? And clear candi sugar? It may make a tasty beer, but a Chimay Red?

I would second this. MO as the base grain of Belgian Dubbel hardly seems intuitive. Likewise with the clear candi sugar. There's no doubt that the recipe could/would yield a fine brew, but just eyeballing the recipe (based purely on my experience/opinion, I claim no expertise), I don't see how the expected qualities of the desired Chimay Red would be achieved.

[Kyle]

From the ratebeer website:

Bottle Conditioned - 75 cl, and 33 cl bottles.
Ingredients: Pilsner malt (French barley from Champagne); wheat starch or flour (10% - 15%); dextrose (5%); malt extract (0.1%); hop extract from German Hallertaur (aroma) & American Galena (bittering) hops. Yeast & liquid invert sugar added to the bottled beer.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/chimay-rouge-red/51/

[Brian_S]

I did the below a few years back and found it good but a bit sharp (acidic maybe?)

Chimay Blue

Grain Bill-
13.33 lb. Belgian 2-row
8 oz. Cara-Munich
6 oz. Belgian Aromatic
4 oz. Belgian Special B
2½ oz. British Chocolate
1½ lb. Dark Belgian Candi Sugar

Hop Bill
½ oz. Northern Brewer 7.5% AA whole leaf 90 minutes
0.4 oz. Centennial 9.3% AA whole leaf 90 minutes
½ oz. Hallertauer 4.0% AA whole leaf 15 minutes
1/8 tsp. Grains of Paradise 15 minutes (Not a hop obviously)
¼ oz. Hallertauer 4.0% AA whole leaf 2 minutes

[Shawn]

From the ratebeer website:

Bottle Conditioned - 75 cl, and 33 cl bottles.
Ingredients: Pilsner malt (French barley from Champagne); wheat starch or flour (10% - 15%); dextrose (5%); malt extract (0.1%); hop extract from German Hallertaur (aroma) & American Galena (bittering) hops. Yeast & liquid invert sugar added to the bottled beer.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/chimay-rouge-red/51/

Problem here is I can't see this recipe giving a dark color at all, let alone the dark fruit, raisin, rum flavors.

[Dave Savoie]

10 lbs.     Maris Otter Pale
0.25 lbs.    Belgian Aromatic
0.50 lbs.    Munich Malt
0.0625 lbs.    American Chocolate Malt
1.5 lbs.    Candi Sugar Clear

0.75 oz.    Tettnanger (Pellets, 4.50 %AA) boiled 60 min.
0.25 oz.    Styrian Goldings (Pellets, 6.00 %AA) boiled 15 min.
0.25 oz.    Hallertau Hersbruck (Pellets, 4.50 %AA) boiled 15 min

Yeast :    WYeast 1214 Belgian Abbey

Original Gravity     1.069
Terminal Gravity     1.013
Color     11.72 °SRM
Bitterness     19.7 IBU
Alcohol (%volume)     7.3 %

Plugging this into beertools it shows that it is fairly balanced Dubbel but the ABV is at the higher end of the scale and based on the info Id almost say Abby Ale II would be a better choice of yeast

YEAST STRAIN: 1762  |  Belgian Abbey II™

Back to Yeast Strain List

An excellent yeast strain for use in Belgian dark strong ales. This strain has a relatively "clean profile" which allows a rich malt and distinctive ethanol character to shine. Delicate dried fruit esters can be produced when used at higher fermentation temperatures or in a high gravity wort.

Origin:
Flocculation: medium
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 65-75° F (18-24° C)
Alcohol Tolerance: approximately 12% ABV

[Shawn]

Looks like a good yeast, but since 1214 is regarded as the Chimay yeast, it may be better to just stick with that.

[Dave Savoie]

I wonder if it is really a chimay yeast based on the email I recieved from Chimay

Our yeast is a particularity of the quality of our Ales. And we want to keep the control of our yeast strain. It's the main reason why we don't give it or sell it, even for a non-commercial purpose. An internal rule forbids us to distribute our yeast.

maybe they harvested it from a bottle and reproduced it