Ommegang Inauguration Ale (Obamagang)

Brewed by Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat)
Style: Stout
Cooperstown, New York USA

On tap at Cole’s Rare Beer fest, Buffalo. Very dark brown, small white head, looks good. Dry, sweet, hint of fruit in aroma. Taste is very good: Stout like with Belgian hints. Licorice. Dry burnt stout like flavours. Very smooth and easy to drink with dark fruit in finish. I really enjoyed it!

Tap at Max’s in Baltimore. I was quite suprised, pleasantly, by this one. Roasty, smooth, sort of a blend between porter and stout. What struck me was the interesting fruity-sour character which reminded a bit of JP Bam Biere. Overall it was very easy to drink and quite tasty.

Tap at Ginger Man. Dark brown-black beer with a thin sticky white head. Aroma is lightly spicy with a soft estery nose. Lots of sweet plums and dates backing that up. There is a bit of soft cocoa and even a little bit of smokiness. Soft sweet maltiness with a lovely richness and a soft fruitiness. Sweet but not at all cloying. Light roastiness with a fairly spicy and estery yeastiness. Light bubble gum and cloves with a little bit of licorice as well. It’s sort of a mix between a stout and a dubbel, and a very tasty one at that.

chocolate flavors with a subtle musty, yeasty character, some smokey elements as well. interesting blend of flavors. the kriek is there if you’re looking for it. one to sip and savor.

Draft taste sample at Big Z (in plastic). Dark brown/black with lasting thick tan head. Chocolaty yeasty aroma with hints of fruit. Rich chocolaty body, creamy texture, milld nutty bitterness and a hint of dry cherry fruitiness. Very very tasty and and surprisingly rich. We can only hope the Obama presidency is as well-crafted as this beer.

Draft goblet at Lunar Brewing. Yep, first time visiting this brewpub I had a guest beer. Figured this is a one-shot deal, and the bartender said yes, they’ve only got a 5-gallon keg of this. Round, deep stout color, a creamy tan head that peeps above the rim of the glass. Had to sniff several times to get the scent of this: Belgian malt plus a little schawrzbier smoothness, all quite mild. First taste impression is of light coffee, but like a fata morgana, I find it hard to say what else I taste. Just really smooth, low alcohol heat. Now a bit of coriander, but no kriek sourness. Some other possible spices, like fennel or grains of paradise, but them maybe that’s from yeast. Notes of mocha now. Best description I can grasp is a Belgian stout with Guinness essence added. Some banana ester toward the end. Really complex and enjoyable.

Draught. At Cole’s Rare Beer Fest, January 2009. Poured near-black, with a creamy and lasting tan head. Funky aroma, with licorice, cherry, blackstrap molasses and herbal bitterness - fairly dry, too. The taste followed - but stronger alcohol than you’d expect from 6.2% and the fruit and sweet malt tasted almost burnt. Average body, a little acidity on the palate to go with the dry yeastiness, decent carbonation, and a long, bitter, almost carbonized linger - very solid, more oomph than the Chocolate Indulgence.

2009-01-24. Very dark brown-black body with a modest tan head. Sweetish aroma dark fruity notes, mild roasty touches, lightly dusty. (7+) Flavour is on the sweet side with just a touch of dry roast, sweet fruity notes and a light bitterness in the finish. (7+) Smooth medium bodied palate with pleasant carbonation. Solid overall, little bit quirky in the middle but quite enjoyable. Tap at Coles Rare Beer Fest, Buffalo

Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.