I picked this cheese up the other day, beer washed with beer. As I understand it, to make a rind a cheese has to be washed every few days - usually with salt water but sometimes with other stuff. This cheese is washed with Chimay ale according to the cheeseman I bought it off of. The monks appear to make four different cheeses.
My review? Very...err...cheesy. Not much of a head to speak of and way too solid. Actually, it has a nice nuttiness and there is the strong tang of what I would guess is their dubbel. A semi-soft cheese with some bubble action, dark creamy to yellow with a ginger rind. Not immune to a certain ofactory statement. Other than that I really have no lexicon of cheese taste to dip into. Are there any cheese bloggers out there?
Comments
Donavan - December 12, 2006 2:46 PM
My wife and I host occasional beer tastings and we like to serve side dishes to pair with the beers. We've served Chimay cheese before and I believe we attempted to pair the Chimay cheese with Chimay Red. It's alright, but not the most amazing pairing in the world. The Cing Cent (Chimay White) doesn't work at all (for my palate). We popped the corks on a couple of other sweeter Belgian-style ales and the Chimay cheese actually did better with those.
I think most people will find the aroma of the Chimay cheese off-putting. It takes me a couple of bites to "get it" -- that is, understand what it is I'm experiencing. For me the strength of the cheese (no pun intended) is in its mouthfeel. If you serve it at room temperature and then eat it on its own (not with crackers, please!) then you can get tactile sensation of the cheese in your mouth.
Alan - December 12, 2006 2:59 PM
I have to admit I am a stinky cheese man and can take on anything a bit of rennet and cream can throw at me. But I would be interested in trying other Chimay cheeses. I got this at the Ithaca Wegmans. I wonder if your access to the grand marketplace of the world that is NYC would have better luck at finding the full range?
Donavan - December 12, 2006 4:35 PM
I suppose if I ventured into the city more often I would have access to all the Chimay cheeses, but my cheese shop here on the island only carries one regularly and I don't remember which it is without looking at my notes (which are unfortunately not with me at the moment).
Adam & Bryan - December 19, 2006 1:48 AM
Bryan and I had a not so good experience with the Chimay cheese we tasted. Rather, Bryan tasted it and suggested I not try it.
http://beerbits.blogspot.com/2006/05/beer-cheese-pairing-chimay.html
Alan - December 19, 2006 12:23 PM
God bless the experimental passion.
Federico - December 19, 2006 6:31 PM
Has anyone been to the beer and cheese tastings at Di Bruno Bros? I am thinking about going to one on January 12th with Sly Fox. They are also having one with with Rogue that should be interesting.
Chanel - December 22, 2006 10:28 AM
Yesterday, I decided to try some new cheeses for the heck of it. I popped by Agata & Valentina in NYC and randomly selected a few from their vast selection. All I have to say so far is, boy does that cheese stink! It took me about a half an hour to figure out what was producing that rank stench...I don't know if I'll have the balls to actually put it in my mouth. If I get up enough courage, I'll let you guys know how it went.
Alan - December 22, 2006 11:21 AM
I have to admit I am a stinky cheese man. Once when I was backpacking kid and in a modest hotel in Paris with pals, I bought some blue gak - limburger or something else rank -to spread on the baguette when the owner came out from the back saying<blockquote class="smalltext"><i>non, non, non monsieur - it is zee cheese that goes or you must go</i></blockquote>immediately after which it is jettisoned out into the street in a stinky blue arc of dairy bliss.