FirstBelgiumTrip

FirstBelgiumTrip (25 Slides)

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C_reserve * Then it was time for a Chimay... a '97 Grand Reserve. * 1781 x 1172 * (226KB)

C_restaurant * The next morning, having discovered that we were then only guests that night, we had a great breakfast in a beautifully decorated private dinning room. * 956 x 1050 * (1.66MB)

C_cheese_tn * Now, just when you think it can't get any better than this, Jean Yernaux tells us that there is a group from the US which has a tour of both the bottling plant and the brewery and ask if we'd like to join. Are we dreaming? * 100 x 102 * (9KB)

C_hotel_comp * We said goodbye to Denis, who works at the hotel, and Jean escorted our car to the bottling plant. * 1553 x 1102 * (175KB)

C_washer * The bottle washer was an enormous unit that sorted out the non-Chimay bottles, cleaned the bottles and removed the old labels. Another unit tested the bottles for defects and removed them as necessary. * 1781 x 1171 * (246KB)

C_filler * The filling units handled about 38,000 bottles per hour... or about 16 per second! * 1818 x 1190 * (269KB)

C_storage * At the end, we saw the finished product, stored at 54f for a few weeks before being shipped.

Note that the European distribution uses plastic cases for returnable bottles. No cans, any draft... necessary for quality control.

We leave the bottling plant and head off to the Abbaye where we stop for a quick photo op of the front entrance. * 1218 x 1453 * (249KB)

C_abbeye * Inside we meet the head brewer Paul Arnott, a Scotsman! Ok, so the monks don't stir the beer by hand... another vision dispelled. * 1790 x 1153 * (222KB)

C_beer_fermenting * Early in the tour we see a new batch of Chimay fermenting. It doesn't get any prettier than this! * 1790 x 1153 * (130KB)

C_centrafug * Moving through the brewery, you find the same level of automation, perfection, and high standards of quality as we saw in the bottling plant. From the high-speed centrifuges to the stainless steel tubing. * 1228 x 1715 * (190KB)

C_under_tanks * The beer is moved from the fermenting tanks to the other stations via more stainless steel piping.

The lab made you forget you were in a brewery.

The testing, the research, the concern for the yeast was impressive.

Of course, being a homebrewer, I made copious brewing notes that will be taken to the grave. * 1593 x 1181 * (213KB)

tast1 * At the end of the tour there was only one arduous task remaining... * 56 x 78 * (3KB)

C_tasting_comp * There was a tasting in progress and we sampled a week old red. The amount of hops taste was surprising!

One of the WA guys commented that it reminded him of a northwest IPA. * 1781 x 1181 * (200KB)

C_the Abbaye * On leaving the brewery, we stopped at the main entrance for a look inside the Abbaye. The grounds and the courtyard are really beautiful. * 1781 x 1106 * (289KB)