Premium Quality Belgian Beer Chimay Now Available in Georgia

Interview

Great news for beer enthusiasts! You can already taste Belgian premium quality Chimay in Georgia, a beer distinguished for its special taste and unforgettable flavor.

On October 8, the presentation and tasting of the renowned brand took place at the newly opened Café Achechili, on Shardeni Street in Old Tbilisi, a well-known place for entertainment and nightlife lovers.

The company Premiere is official representative of Belgian Beers. Their portfolio includes well-known brands such as Chimay, Rochefort, Delirium and Lindemans.

The products of the brand are available for Georgian customers at limited locations in Tbilisi: at the hypermarket Agrohub, authentic craft beer restaurant 9 Mta and Café Achechili. Visitors to these places can enjoy the different varieties of the Chimay Brand, choosing according to their taste.

Jos Timmermans, Export Area Manager of Chimay, who is currently paying a visit to Georgia, led the presentation and introduced the history and four different varieties of the brand to the audience. The event was attended by media, business representatives and public figures, who got to enjoy the authentic Belgian beer while listening to the presentation.

The uniqueness of the beer lies in various details, first of all, due to the fact that the Chimay Brewery, founded in 1862, is located in Scourmont Abbey, a monastery in the province of Hainaut, Belgium, one of the eleven breweries worldwide that produce Trappist beer, brewed by Trappist monks (a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from the Cistercians). The monastery also makes four varieties of cheese.

The beer is transported from the monastery to the bottling plant 12 km away, which can fill 40,000 bottles per hour, of which many are returns. The beer is then re-fermented in the bottle for three weeks before being shipped worldwide. 50% of Chimay beer production is sold on the export markets.

There are four different colored labels: red, white, blue and gold.

The ingredients are: water, malted barley, wheat starch, sugar, hop extract and yeast; malt extract is used in the Red and Blue beers for coloring.

Chimay Red, 7% ABV, presented in a 75 cl bottle, is known as a Première. It is a dark brown color dubbel and has a sweet, fruity aroma.

Chimay Blue is the strongest of these wonderful beers, boasting a 9% alcohol volume. It is known as Grande Réserve because of its unique storage method - it can be stored for up to 20 years. The darkest of the Chimay beers, this brew is powerful and complex, with chocolate, caramel and spice.

Chimay Chimay Triple, 8% ABV golden tripel, comes in a 75 cl bottle and is known as Cinq Cents. This crisp beer bears a light orange color and is the most hopped and driest of the three.

Chimay Dorée (Golden), 4.8% ABV ale, is brewed from very similar ingredients to the Red, but is paler and spiced differently. The monks themselves drink this variety rather than the stronger three.

Prior to 2013, it was unusual for bottles of the Chimay Dorée to be available outside the Abbey or local inn. However, from 2013, a limited quantity of this beer began to be sold on draught in the United Kingdom, at 19 Fuller's pubs, and in Italy, where only 50 pubs sell this variety of beer, as well as in 330 ml bottles in some export markets. In the Christmas season of 2016, Chimay was made available as a gift set with all four varieties and two chalices, and since has been available in limited quantities in the USA.

Chimay beer first appeared in Georgia about a month ago, however, it has already gained the growing popularity and admiration among the local customers.

GEORGIA TODAY spoke to the official representative of the brand, Jos Timmermans, to find out more about their expectations for the Georgian market and Chimay’s competitiveness with local and foreign brands currently on the market.

Tell us about the history and distinctive features of Chimay.

The brand boasts a hundred years of history. The special characteristic of Trappist monks is that the beer and cheese they produce is sold only for the financial support of the monastery and for good causes. The majority of the profit from the sale of the beer is distributed to charities and for community development around the region.

In general, the beer industry is divided into two parts: industrial beer and craft beer. The difference between them is that industrial beer is widely produced and is available almost everywhere, while craft beer is made in micro-breweries only, and is a relatively new product which is currently gaining position on the market.

However, despite their long history, the Belgian beers stand beyond such classification, being neither industrial nor craft beers, as they are produced in limited quantities and varieties in order to maintain the quality.For instance, Chimay produces only four varieties of beer, mostly Blue. At first, it was a so-called Christmas beer, however, due to the growing demand, production expanded and now represents 50% of Chimay beer sales.

Each variety of Chimay beer carries a different content and “character” and can satisfy the taste of any customer depending on their needs and taste. You will definitely find one kind of beer among these four, which satisfy you. Each is made with traditional methods, however, through special technologies and additional ingredients, you can taste the aroma of fruit, caramel, chocolate, coffee, etc. What is most important in Belgian beers: each is produced with an original method called bottle conditioning, also known as “bottle re-fermentation,” which means that yeast is added to the beer in the bottle during the second fermentation, enhancing its taste and aroma. Accordingly, almost any beer made this way is better than a decanted one. Chimay is an example showing that bottle conditioning beer is much better.

There are other premium quality beers produced in Belgium. Why was Chimay selected to enter the Georgian market?

Why Chimay? The brand products have been on sale for about a month in Georgia, and there is a significantly increasing interest and demand among customers. In addition, the price is affordable in comparison to the prices of other European beers. Chimay is also the most diverse brand, offering four different kinds of beer- light, heavy, black and white, so it can meet the needs of customers of any taste.

What are your expectations for the Georgian market?

The expectations are really great. We are sure that Chimay will gain even more popularity among Georgian customers. When tasting Chimay, more and more people will understand why beer is a special drink among other alcoholic beverages and the culture of Belgian beers will gain a stable position in the Georgian market without any obstacles.

So, there’ll be no difficultly for Chimay to compete with local and foreign brands here?

“Definitely not, because it has already caught the attention and love of Georgian beer lovers. Our beer is sold at the restaurant 9 Mta, and often the demand is higher than supply, because customers already know what they like and why they want to order our beer. So, I don’t see any circumstances which might interrupt or hinder this process.”

As for future plans, the brand representative said they will soon increase beer export to Georgia, increasing the number of bars and stores selling Chimay.

Those interested in giving this authentic Belgian beer a try and those wanting to feel the true meaning of this drink- check out Chimay novelties on their Facebook page Premiere Belgian Beers – PBB.

By Ana Dumbadze