Ommegang Ommegeddon

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

bottle - Pours hazy yellow-orange with a big, billowy head. The aroma is of that house yeast and some brett along with some light citrus and spice. The flavor had a nice balance of malt and mildly citrus accented spice. Up front the brett is subtle, but it kicks in more in the finish. This beer is medium bodied, lively on the palate, complex, and quite easy to drink. I really enjoyed it.

Corked & caged bottle. Large frothy, very fizzy white head that mostly diminished, very little lacing, carbonation noted, hazy, and a yellow hue. The aroma was sweet, hops, coriander, fruity, some spicyness, sour, citric, slightly tart, some brett, and yeasty. The flavor was sweet, sour, tart, fruity, orangie, coriander, some spicyness, and a semi-dry finish. The mouthfeel was tingly and semi-dry. Medium in body. Quaffable, balanced, but it did not leave me wanting to seek this beer out again as I did not acquire a liking for the flavor.

ACBF 2008. These guys know what they’re doing. Another nice Belgian interpretation from Ommegang, smooth with some nice sourness that’s very present without being overpowering.

Pours a cloudy orange with a rich, foamy white head. Great lacing. The nose of this thing is straight brett, beautiful and funky in all it’s glory. Apples, pears, stinky blue cheese, sour milk, bitter tea, and orange. Boatloads of funk for sure! The taste is damn near perfect - the brett is not particularly sour or biting, but its clean, clear, effervescent, herbal, bright and earthy. Packed with complexities in each sip; Bread, apple, clove, pepper, hay, ginger, Sprite, and bubblegum, with a long, dry, herbal, fruity, mineral finish. Funktastical goodness in ever glug. Really, really, really great to drink - it’s fun, refreshing, interesting, creative and devilishly drinkable. Hats off to the Ommegang crew for this masterpiece!

Batch #1 Pours hazy gold with a one-inch head of fizzly white. The moderately porous foam retreated quickly, leaving behind zero lacework and a placid, bare surface. Aromatics lead off with lemon zest, quanine, fresh cut hay, and grapefruit pith. Hints of musty cedar, pine bark, crushed orange seeds, and menthol follow through. Medium bodied, with a drying and lightly tart mouthfeel. Crisp and quenching. A tonic-like dryness starts the pallet, with lemon pith, pepper-laced menthol, bitter orange rind, and clove-studded apple skins. A drying bitterness picks up, and the tart, citic bite continues. Some faint dried pineapple skins and tannic white grape flesh follow through. Finishes with lingering crushed juniper on wet hay, spritzed with lemon oil. The Brett has really started to take hold, but the base beer is faded, and I’m missing the vibrant hop character and freshness that I enjoyed a year ago. I guess the trick is to get the Brett kicked in while the beer is still young. Orval seems to have figured that one out! Batch #3 Pours cloudy, orangy gold with lively carbonation. A myriad of bubbles cling to the goblet, and a half-inch head receded to a skim coat. Aromatics are lightly tart and dry with citrus fruit. Wet grass, pineapple skins, menthol, and cloves. Hints of lemon zest, grapefruit follow through. Light to medium bodied. Crisp, snappy, and drying. Dried citrus fruits, cut grass, lemon pith, pinapple skins, and cloves lead off the pallet. Light malt and a drying yeast bite follow through along with hints of white pepper, peach skins, and grapefruit. Finishes with a light, drying bitterness and lingering lemon-spritzed hay. Much more brett is apparent in this fresh batch than in batch #1, which is now over a year old. Also, the hops and malt are much more vibrant than batch 1.

Clear gold with an excellent head. Medium bodied. Sweet and bitter, with a strong tart flavor. Not quite as good as Biere de Mars, however. Quite metallic when served ice cold. Let it warm some.

75cl bottle from Willow Bend Liquors (Tampa, FL). Initially purchased in August, 2007 and aged for 8 months at 40-45 degrees. Rated on 3/23/08. Pours a clear golden with thick frothy white head. Good head retention. Smells strongly of spice, pepper, hops. Small hint of vanilla. Flavor is interesting. Slightly bitter, complex vegetable-spice notes with hints of flowers. Hints of aged cheese and spice on finish. Medium-bodied.

750 ml bottle. pours a deep golden with a nice size white head, in which a solid lacing holds well through the glass. some spice in the aroma, but mainly yeast and citrus. solid hop presence... you can definitely tell they dry hopped this one. medium body, even over the palate... lots of lemon and some spice. nice finish.. the spice comes through the most on the finish. not as funky as I thought it would be..... nice, but not worth the price tag.