Chimay Blue
Chimay Blue
I am thinking about consuming a bottle of Chimay Blue tonight.
Has anyone recovered the yeast from Chimay Blue? Is it a good yeast - is it conditioned with the same yeast as it is brewed with?
Has anyone recovered the yeast from Chimay Blue? Is it a good yeast - is it conditioned with the same yeast as it is brewed with?
It does appear to be a bit lightweight doesn't italexander taipan wrote:You should be ashamed of yourself, it wouldn't last that long in my houseCalum wrote:Thanks Oblivious. I was going to give it a go as SWMBO put a bottle in my Christmas stocking adn I am only just getting around to drinking it.![]()




It took me a few days to drink this one but once I did I went ahead and tried to recover the yeast. I created a simple starter medium with some DME and boiled water, poured it into an old lucozade bottle and throw on an airlock (the bottles are the perfect size for a rubber bung). It took a few days to show any major activity but once it did it was off like a rocket.
The activity had slowed down by today so I poured the beer off and created another starter with some more DME. I had a wee sip of the beer before I poured it away and I could really taste the influence of the Chimay yeast. It was clean with no sign of any off flavours.
So, if the next lot still tastes clean and uninfected I think I will risk it with a belgian type beer (I have an ancient abbey about half a mile from my house so I feel I have some heritage to uphold
).
I'll update if I go for it.
The activity had slowed down by today so I poured the beer off and created another starter with some more DME. I had a wee sip of the beer before I poured it away and I could really taste the influence of the Chimay yeast. It was clean with no sign of any off flavours.

So, if the next lot still tastes clean and uninfected I think I will risk it with a belgian type beer (I have an ancient abbey about half a mile from my house so I feel I have some heritage to uphold

I'll update if I go for it.
The yeast in the Orval bottles is the primary yeast (which is a fairly normal Belgian Saccharomyces strain) and some Brettanomyces. Orval ferment with just the normal yeast. The bottles are seeded with both it and Brett for flavour development.
If you want just the Orval primary yeast it's the Belgian Bastogne yeast (WLP510).
If you want just the Orval primary yeast it's the Belgian Bastogne yeast (WLP510).