Ommegang Three Philosophers

Brewed by Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat)
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Cooperstown, New York USA

Deep crimson with hints of brown toward the center of the glass. Solid 1/2 inch eggshell head...foam night as tightly packed as others. Aroma of Belgian yeast, brown sugar, spice, and cherry. Medium mouthfeel...drinkable and not filling. Flavors of tart cherry skin, ripe sweet dark fruit, and caramel would make me return to this one again.

Bottle from Bev Mo, San Francisco, July 2008. What a wonderful beer, blended if I’m not mistaken. This has an aroma of cherries and dark fruit. The flavour starts with that dark cherry and moves to chocolate, dark sugar, plum.

2008 Version. 330 mL bottle. Fairly clear amber pour with a large, fizzly, cream colored head that goes down after a few seconds. Looking closely you can see the added yeast that dissipates and turns the glass slightly cloudy. First taste is spicy- almost a sting from the near 10% abv. The aroma is likewise nutmeg, cloves, etc. There are many fruit flavors in the mix besides cherries once you get to drinking. Reminds me a lot of Aventinus.

750ml bottle. Hazy amber brown with a huge off-white head. Spicy, fruity aromas. Sweet caramel malt flavors to start with a sour twang to it. Dark fruit flavors.

cloudy brown, relatively light for a quadrupel, nice pale head... the lambic smell is pretty strong and mostly overwhelms the malts and regular yeast... very smooth malty with the kriek clearly noticeable... i almost wish the kriek wasnt as strong so i could enjoy the complexity of the rest... nevertheless yummy

12oz bottle shared by a friend at a work picnic. I remember the very first time I had this brew I wasn’t prepared for the combination of styles. But it’s grown on me quite a bit, as it’s another very well done offering from the might Ommegang. Basically, it’s got all the virtues one expects from a nice quad – dark pour, thankfully not thinned out too much, lively spices combining with flavors of overripe fruits, and so forth. But the addition of the cherries really adds something, not sickly sweet or syrupy, but simply a distinctive quality that makes this brew stand out from others in the style. Not something I return to very often, but I enjoy it when I do.

750ml. bottle. Pours a pleasant happy head which dissipates rapidly to a thin foam, dark reddish brown color, nose of fruits, sweet spices, malts and yeast, tastes initially of malt spice and fruit, then evolving more to fruit flavors, very voluptuous and rich on the finish, with a final mild touch of hop bitterness.

Party Source growler. Poured Dark, murky brown with thick beige head. Aroma is dark fruits, malt, a little bit of yeast, and alcohol. The flavor is very typical of Belgian-style ale. I enjoyed it.