The Chimay Red is where most Belgians begin with Chimay, and for good reason: it is the original. When the monks of Scourmont Abbey first sold beer commercially, this was the recipe they put forward — a reddish-brown dubbel with soft caramel sweetness and a fruity yeast character that sits at 7.0% ABV without demanding that you notice it. Decades later, the Blue became the bottle most associated with serious occasions, and the Gold became the lighter everyday option. But the Red was first, and Belgians who grew up with Chimay in the house tend to have a particular relationship with it. If you are Belgian and living in Tokyo, it is the most familiar Chimay to look for, and it is here.
Scourmont Abbey’s original 1862 recipe
Bières de Chimay — the brewery of Scourmont Abbey — was founded in 1862 in Baileux, near Chimay in the Hainaut province of southern Belgium. The Red is Chimay’s first commercial release, the beer that established the brewery’s identity in the market and that has been in continuous production in its essential form since the abbey began selling beer to the public. The recipe is over a century and a half old and has not required fundamental revision.
The style is a Trappist Belgian dubbel. The pour is reddish-brown with a lasting tan head, and the flavour profile is built on soft caramel sweetness from the malt, a light fruity yeast character, and mild bitterness that keeps the beer from tipping into sweetness without balance. At 7.0% ABV, it sits between the Gold’s approachability and the Blue’s intensity — substantial enough to carry a meal, restrained enough to allow for more than one. Like all Chimay beers, it is bottle-conditioned, with live yeast remaining in the bottle after packaging and continuing to develop the beer’s character over time.
How Chimay Red Beer is drunk at home
Santé! / Op uw gezondheid! (sahn-TAY / op-uw geh-ZONT-hayt) — French and Flemish respectively, both meaning “to your health.” The Red, being the original Chimay and the most widely known, is the bottle most likely to be on a Belgian table when the toast is called.
In Belgium, the Red earns its place across the main course of a Sunday family lunch — the beer that carries the meal rather than punctuating it. Stoofvlees, Carbonnade Flamande, is the pairing that the dubbel style was effectively made for: beef braised slowly in dark ale with onions and thyme until the liquid reduces to a rich, sweet-savory glaze, its depth matching the caramel malt of the Red note for note. Moules-frites alongside a glass of Chimay Red is a pairing that most Belgians have experienced without needing to plan it — the briny mussels and the salt of the fries finding the right counterpart in the beer’s mild sweetness and gentle carbonation. Belgian fries with mayonnaise remain at the table throughout, the constant that no course displaces.
The tradition of visiting Trappist breweries — treating a Sunday afternoon drive to Scourmont as something between an outing and a small observance — gives the Red a connection to place that goes beyond what the label says.
How to drink it in Japan
The Chimay Red is a year-round beer in Japan, but it suits the autumn and winter months most naturally — September through February, when the cooler temperature in Tokyo and Kobe allows the caramel malt and the 7.0% ABV to sit comfortably rather than feel heavy.
At FamilyMart, try it alongside a nikuman — the steamed pork bun available warm at the counter. The slightly sweet, soft filling and the bready exterior respond to the caramel malt of the Red in the same way that a meal’s starch component always grounds a malt-forward beer. For a more composed pairing at home, serve it with buta no kakuni — Japanese braised pork belly, slow-cooked with soy, mirin, and sake until the fat softens and the glaze deepens. The sweet-savory reduction of the kakuni and the caramel sweetness of the Red occupy the same register, and the beer’s mild bitterness provides the finish that cuts the richness of the pork before the next bite.
At Tokyo’s specialty import bottle shops, a single 330ml Trappist dubbel can run ¥700 or more. By the case from Omori Mart — available in 330ml × 30 bottles — the per-bottle cost is considerably lower, and the case size means a supply that runs through the season.
Get Chimay Red Beer delivered in Japan
Chimay Red Beer is available from Omori Mart in a 330ml × 30 bottle case, delivered nationwide across Japan.
- Free shipping on orders over ¥15,000
- Pay at FamilyMart, 7-Eleven, or Lawson — or by bank transfer or card
- Nationwide delivery to any address in Japan
Rakuten and Amazon Japan do not carry this label. Omori Mart is where Belgians in Japan find the Chimay range that does not appear on standard import shelves.
[Shop Chimay Red Beer →]
https://omorimart.com/product/chimay-red-beer-330ml-x-30-bottles/
Santé at Scourmont Abbey where this recipe has been going out the door since 1862, and kanpai at a Tokyo table in November — the one that started everything still holds its place.
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