CT Column: Belgian brilliance

This weeks Capital Times Column:

BELGIUM is responsible for some of the most original and idiosyncratic beers in the world.
One very unusual characteristic of the Belgian brewing industry are the six Trappist Monasteries, which brew and sell beer to fund their abbeys and the charitable works they undertake.
The largest of these Trappist breweries is the Bières de Chimay at the Scourmont Abbey in the south of Belgium.
Chimay brews three beers for sale and as is customary amongst the Trappist Brewers one low strength beer for the monks to drink.
The three that the outside world get to drink are identified by the colour of the label. Chimay Red is the ‘small’ beer of the pack clocking in at 7%abv and offering up berry fruit aromas and a peppery yeast note.
Chimay White is a pale beer with a bright hop character and the spicy Chimay yeast note clocking in at 8%abv.
The most interesting beer of the range is the Chimay Blue which clocks in at 9%abv and is intended for cellaring.
When young, Chimay Blue has the classic peppery fruity aroma from the house yeast and a sweet malt accented palate.
As the beer ages, the fruit character deepens and rounds out taking on port-wine-like raisin notes with an incredibly smooth finish.
Chimay also produce washed rind cheese which makes a perfect match to the Blue. Try it with Over the Moon Galactic Gold or Kapiti Ramara from Moore Wilson’s Fresh.
I cellar my own Chimay Blue as I prefer the beer with some age on it, however for those with less restraint there will be a unique opportunity to taste and buy bottles from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Vintages at the Regional Wines and Spirits Belgian Beer Tasting on Saturday May 29th.

Cheers
Kieran Haslett-Moore.

Cheese of the Month March #2 : Cour De Thierache

I thought I would show case something new for the second March cheese. When I was in Auckland I decided to stop in on one of my importers La Fromagerie. Situated in the shadow of giant Lion Brewery in New Market, the entire suburb was filled with the smells of mash and boil, La Fromagerie is the cheese importing arm of Maison Vauron a wine importer who more interestingly to me imports some French cider as well. Although the nature of my visit was mainly a courtesy call inevitably a wee cheese board was sourced and a few interesting cheeses tasted. One of the cheeses I subsequently decided to stock was Cour De Thierache, a beer washed rind cheese from the north of France.

Washed rind cheeses come from the monastic tradition where the fermented products of the monastery often featured in each others production. Accordingly the beer or wine was often used to help ripen the cheese, the grain from the mash was used to make the bread and feed the pigs and so on.
Washing the rind of the cheese not only flavours it with what ever you are washing it with but also helps in the development of b-linens, the rusty coloured moulds that create pungent, yeasty and fruity aromas and flavours. I love washed rind cheeses.

Cour De Thierache comes shaped as a heart, bloody French eh?, and sits towards the milder end of the washed rind spectrum. That said it is still gloriously yeasty with an edge of funk. The rind has a slightly gritty crystallised character with the texture of the cheese inside being semi-firm.
I pulled out a bottle of 2003 Chimay Blue from the cellar to match the cheese and enjoyed the combination with SWMBO. The beer, cheese and company matched gloriously (I know cheesy but we are talking a heart shaped cheese for Christ’s sake!). The yeasty punch of the cheese was softened by the mellow dried fruit character of the Chimay. At 5 years the Chimay Blue is definitely starting to develop some port character. In fact it put us in such a port mood that a bottle of Sandeman followed in quick succession.

A taste of the high life

As mentioned in the last post I’m off to stay at a luxury lodge for a night next week. Te Mata Cheeses and Summerlee Luxury Lodge share owners and as a result some of my co-workers, my category managers and myself are off to live it up for a night. Summerlee Lodge is the old farmstead house on the Summerlee Sheep Station which sits on Cape Kidnappers in the Hawesbay, a place famous for it garnet colony.

The lodge is attached to a boutique winery and has views out over the ocean. A North Italian chef is coming to cook us a meal and no doubt there will be wine and cheese laid on. Try as I have I don’t care for wine so I have just packed a bag of goodies to tide me over. Boon Geuze, Adnams Broadside, Thomas Hardies Ale and Chimay Grande Reserve should keep me happy while the grape juice flows. Its a hard life ...