There are a few things you could have done to improve the experience. First, you were comparing two different styles of beer. Moosehead is a lager and the Chimay Blue is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. As a result, they need to be served at two different temperatures. Generally, I serve beer at approximately five degrees below fermentation temperature. Therefore, the Moosehead would be served at about 45-50 degrees and the Chimay at about 60 degrees. Serving at a colder temperature will mask or even eliminate the flavor of the beer (which is why Coors Light wants you to serve their beer as cold as humanly possible, because they do not want you to actually taste the beer). If you served the Chimay too cold, then you do not really taste the flavor of the beer.
Next, if you are doing a truly side-by-side comparison, you need to cleanse your palate between tastings. Otherwise, you are potentially altering the taste of the subsequent beers. Try saltine crackers and some water between tastings. This will make sure that the previous beer is not effecting the next one you taste.
While Chimay Blue is not the best beer for hamburger and baked beans, it should not be too bad. Depending on the flavor of the beans, you might overpower the Chimay. If you wanted to go with another Belgian Dark Strong Ale, I would have picked St. Bernardius abt12 with that food combo. It has a stronger flavor than the Chimay Blue and would have worked better. Personally, I would have gone IPA with a hamburger and baked beans. This way, you can load up on the condiments and still have a beer that will cut through the flavors without overpowering things too much. My favorite is Hop Devil from Victory Brewing.
As far as the Chimay Red, I was not really that impressed with it. It is a Belgian Dubbel and I have had better Belgian Dubbels (honestly, I prefer my Belgian Dubbel to Chimay’s, but I might be biased). I have yet to try the Trippel (white label).
As far as the aging, it depends on the beer as to how well it will age, along with the conditions in which it was stored. The Moosehead will be pretty bad after 13 years. The Chimay Blue, on the other hand, keeps improving with age. As you hit 10 years, it will take on port or sherry-like qualities.
I commend you on at least trying the beer. We have had several threads here where people ask for recommendations, but never report back as to whether that actually tried any of the beer recommendations.
