Ommegang Biere de Mars

Brewed by Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat)
Style: Bière de Garde
Cooperstown, New York USA

750ml bottle. poured a somewhat hazy orange with a very fluffy head. Sweet and spicy aroma, slight orangy smell as well. More spicyness in the flavor, more citrus too, but not overwhelming or acidic. Tasty, easy drinking brew with lts of flavor, very good.

Batch #2, Brewed October 2008. Pours with a generous (three finger), creamy, off-white head. Solid head retention throughout; this thing sticks. Thick bubbles. Effervescent, hazed sunrise orange body below. Thick, foamy sheets of lace. Aroma has a bit of funk and earthiness from the brett, a touch of citrus (lemon peel), toast, caramel, florals, and a some hops. Could use a bit of time, aroma seems a bit under developed (biere de garde = beer to keep). Taste is citrusy with brett earthiness, and leather, a bit of citrus peel, toasted bread, caramel, light spices, horse blanket and CO2. Pleasant. A bit metallic in the finish, as well as a bit bitter. A lot of earthy character. Soft, creamy and effervescent mouthfeel, light on the palate, with lively bubbles on the tongue. Refreshing, and should age with good complexity.

Bottle from Sam’s. Beautiful pour into a tulip. Generous head and hazy orange/amber pour. More haze as the bottle progresses. Yes, I drank this by myself. It’s 6%, what??? Some freshly cut wood and funk on the nose as well as some brett. Bit of spice. Nothing too special, but nice if you like brett and funk. Would have appreciated more complexity, especially for the price, but solid.

Pours out a slightly reddish mostly clear amber color with a big foamy off white head. Aroma of lemon zest, funky barnyard yeast and some spice notes. Taste is complex and well balanced, lemon, some spice, strange mothball funk going on in the background also. Rather well balanced and definitely an interesting brew.

750 ml bottle shared with the KW crew. another great bottle shared by Jan. a huge thanks! the pour is hazy amber with a nice off white head. the aroma was huge on this. big malts up front with some citrus and funky dryness. the flavour is awesome with the funk coming through more then the nose would suggest. the malt spine holds everything together and the dry finish was perfect for the style. the hops were noticeable throughout but didnt play a big role in the flavour or aroma. very nice brew, actually this was stupid good. thanks for the share Jan!

Bottle. Amber beer with an off-white head. Nice tart aroma with green apple, yeast, and malt. Tart flavor with malt, yeast, and light spice. Medium bodied. Tartness lingers with malt and light spice. Nice beer. Well balanced.

Batch #3 from November 2008. Tons of yeast at the bottom of the bottle, yet it pours a remarkably clear, dark amber color. Big fluffy white head. Aroma is lemon and fresh cut grass. Taste is subtle - lemon/lime and hay, plus some hoppy bitterness. I’m not getting any funk here. In fact this is kind of boring. It’s clean, smooth, and easy to drink; but it"s forgetable too.

750ml at our 2nd KW group tasting, shared by either Jan or Jeff, sorry I’m not sure but thanks to both. Pours a very nice hazy amber with a small fizzy white head. The aroma is surprisingly Saison-like, very Bretty, lemon-lime, but with some good malts underneath hiding. Flavour is big mix of sweet malts with Brett characteristics. Fizzy spritz on the palate with the lemon line, quickly into some musky funk and fruity esters. Nice! Very dry and astringent in the finish, quite a hoppy flavour despite the lack of aromatic hops, but it balances out the whole show. Lip smacking good! I really love this style.