Ommegang Ommegeddon

Fresh fruity aroma of grapefruit, pears, apples, oranges is perfume-like in it’s intensity. Opaque yellow gold with decent and lasting white head that recedes slowly with some nice lacing. Fruits from the aroma meld together in the flavour with a citrus character dominant. Overall flavour is sweet with a pleasant balancing bitterness. Medium body with smooth texture and mild carbonation. Intriguingly different and very complex and enjoyable. Sampled at the Extreme Beer Festival 2005. Score adjusted after resampling at Kennet Square Brew Fest 2005 and Extreme Beer Fest 2006. This one is improving with time. Original rating (9-5-8-4-17=4.3). Resampled again at the Extreme Beer Fest 2006 and this one just keeps improving. It is near perfection with a year’s age on it.

A sample-and-a-half, and dreams of more, at EBF 2006. Hazy, luminous gold, warm and sunny, suspended yeast quite evident, good head retention....the nose, intense with vanilla and new oak, bretty sourness and fresh grassy hops creating an earthy promise, and sour fruits adding more suspense for what will follow on the tongue....soon delight by an awesomely balanced melange of sweet-sour apricots, melon, vanilla, with fine floral hops, rosemary and more acerbic spices in the clay-like earthiness of the full, luscious body....this in some ways seems more like a biere de garde in the mouthfeel, so luscious and round yet peppered throughout with herbs and very light fruitiness and always just enough alcohol, a kiss of warmth on that frigid Boston night....it finishes tart, very full, with puckering carbonation, lively and not to be forgotten though it be many months before I’ll savor it again....an absolute transcendent masterpiece, as close to perfection as I can score it on measly samples....I don’t need a bottle, I need a case, a keg, a hogshead.

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!

I think I had about eight 4oz samples of this because Randy Thiel kept toppin off my glass. Cheers to you, Randy!
Stunning appearance that reminds me of Vervifontaine Blonde. Full and lasting is the perfectly-formed white, dense head atop the shining, sparkling, unfiltered, white-gold-meets-tangerine juice colored body. Tons of lacing. Aroma is just a pure, fantastically powerful shot of lovely, tart brett. In one word, pineapple! Reminds me of Mo Betta in that regard, though not nearly as concenrated a pineapple aroma. Spicy hops round out the edges, while some of the pale malt sugars serve as a backdrop. Juicy nectarines mingle with limes and starfruits. White pepper-like notes are probably just a result of the dry woody character, while the ginger is just faintly present. Lightly oily barnyard/leather notes present. Flavor comes right back at you with the brett. At once cleansing the palate and then delivering some light pale grains, hint of dry floral and grassy hops. More pineapple and lemon-lime notes. Very tight, expansive mouthfeel completes the experience while the brett lingers on, supported by malt that is neither too lightly done nor overly sweet. Spiciness from actual spices is very tame (which I realy appreciate). Hops play off the fruity/tart brett, adding complexity/layers to this wonder. Odd that they use cascades in the dry hopping, but who cares! This stuff is a masterpiece if I’ve ever had one. Anxiously awaiting the bottles. No alcohol present.

Draft, EBF: Beautiful murky gold. Splendid lacing work procures a huge and fluffy white dome. This is said to be based on Hennepin, but I swear if there’s any relation, this one is Hennepin on hard drugs. My pal Martin had the following catch-all sentence to resume the nose: “It smells a lot of things including something linked with beard”. Thus his the charm of Ommegeddon, it brings flavours you experience nowhere else aplenty. Deep and tender saaz? hops bring us a soapy and very floral background while subdued malt tries to peak in with melon and litchi suggestions. The soul lays in the funkiest yeast that procures a plethora of creamy funky flavours: hairstuff, shaving cream, soured hay and milk, sweet lilac. Funky and refreshing as it dries out on a cobweb-like pillowy palate. Tart and bitter finish. Dusty and rustic, liquid rosewater. Totally exciting and a worthy creator of the wildest beer discussions. I can’t even say how drinkable this is, I just don’t know where I am drinking this, losing track of time and reality. A gem for which a plea of support is barely enough. Best of show? This was a show.