In response to changing beer consumption habits, Trappist brewery Chimay is offering three of its beers in cans for the first time. This launch coincides with the 175th anniversary of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont, where Chimay has been brewed since 1862.
The Chimay Dorée, Rouge and Triple - ranging in alcohol content from 4.8 to 8 per cent - are now available in 33cl cans. The heavier Bleue and Verte varieties will remain bottled for the time being. “You don’t drink those in just a few gulps,” said CEO Pierre-Louis Dhaeyer.
The abbey has been developing the canned versions for more than three years, and has already conducted initial market trials in the US and Japan, where canned craft beer is far more common.
Preserving beer quality
Although canned beer accounts for around a third of beer consumption in Belgium, this is the first time a Belgian Trappist beer has been released in this format. Dhaeyer says the decision goes beyond marketing. Cans offer better protection from light exposure, thus preserving the beer’s quality," he says.
Nevertheless, it also reflects the broader trend of declining beer consumption. Chimay’s production dropped from almost 190,000 hectolitres before the pandemic to 167,000 in 2023. Profits also fell significantly, from 2.8 million euros in 2022 to just over 800,000 last year. Almost 80 per cent of Chimay's production is consumed domestically.
Non-alcoholic beer
In Europe, non-alcoholic beer is the only category experiencing growth. But a Trappist beer without alcohol is a step too far for the monks who sit on the brewery's board and remain closely tied to the Abbey of Scourmont, founded in 1850.
Although the brewery has experimented with alcohol-free variants, it has yet to produce one that meets the monks' standards. “We’ll only release it when it’s right,” said Dhaeyer.