Kris: Our friend, Miro, brought down a jeroboam (3 litre bottle) of Chimay Grande Reserve to share on the final night of Tasmanian BeerFest (Cheers Miro!). We decided to hit the Salamanca Markets in search of some cheese that could handle this classic Trappist Ale.

 Chimay Grande Reserve is an iconic beer and a fine example of a Belgian Strong Ale. It is a rich, malty beer with flavours and aromas of figs, caramel and dried fruit. It also weighs in at 9%, so a 3 litre serve is probably best shared with friends (especially after a day at a beer festival). Best served in a Belgian tulip style glass at 8-10C.

I thought we would experiment with matching 2 Tasmanian cheeses with the beer:

Grandvewe Sapphire Blue
&
Oen from Bruny Island Cheesery

 Grandvewe  Sapphire Blue, an organic sheep’s milk blue, didn’t quite match the intensity of the Chimay. It was still pretty tasty, rich and creamy with a subtle hit of blue mould. I think a bigger blue, such as a Roquefort would stand up to it.

Our second cheese was a perfect match for the beer. It was Oen from Bruny Island Cheesery. Oen is a great washed rind cheese wrapped and aged in vine leaves. It was rich and funky and tasted great with the Chimay Blue. Success!!