Ommegeddon

I originally discovered Brewery Ommegang through the Duvel USA website. I was looking for more beers from Duvel Moortgat, and found that they owned a brewery in Cooperstown, NY. (Somehow I missed Maredsous, but that's on my short list to try.) I've tried a number of brews from Ommegang in the past, which at some point I'll have to get around to reviewing. These include Ommegang Abbey Ale, Hennepin, Rare Vos, Three Philosophers, and Witte. I've tried all but the Witte so far. However, Ommegang also has a couple seasonal lines, and Ommegeddon is one of them.

This is one of the breweries I've grown to trust in the short amount of time I've been tasting beers. While so far none of their offerings have replaced the soft spot Duvel holds in my heart, nearly everything I've had from them has been darn tasty. Dan was lucky enough to snag a left over 10 year anniversary box set from Ommegang, that included a special anniversary Hennepin glass.

This beer is a Funkhouse Ale... which pretty much means nothing to me. Looking into it a little more though, it seems like this is Ommegang's play on the Farmhouse Ale, or Saison category. Basically this seems to mean that it's brewed seasonally, on a small scale, and using local ingredients. This beer is also brewed with Brettanomyces or "Brett" yeast, which in most beer and wine seems to be an undesirable thing. It's said to impart a odor of a stable.

Our bottle was from Batch #3, brewed in April of 2008. We popped the cork, and poured it into our Chimay goblets. It's a hazy golden yellow color, with a thin white head that nonetheless leaves good lacing on the glass. You may note from the picture that we were careful to leave a bit of the beer in the bottle. This contains most of the sediment from the yeast that the beer is bottled with. The bottle's label specified that this sediment should be left in the glass and not mixed in, so we thought it was best to follow their instructions.

The aroma is decidedly unique... there's that horse blanket smell. Overall the smell of hay is forefront, but there's also a bit of apricot fruitiness in there. There's a wildness to the aroma that's just hard to describe.

The flavor is magnificent. There's the tangyness of apricot, a bit of a sweet-sour flavor. It's well balanced though, and the alcohol flavor doesn't really come through much. Oh, did I mention it's 8% ABV? The hops come through in the finish, with a very light bitterness rounding out the flavor.

It's a light beer in the mouth. The carbonation is mild and tingly, the beer feels somewhat thin, but not in a bad way. It's extremly smooth.

So to sum up the drinkability... very. Dangerously very. I had the impression that the flavor might sour after a few of them, but considering that it's 8% ABV, it's way too easy to drink. The uncharacteristic wildness of it makes it an incredible brew, and something to look forward to every year when it's produced. I will absolutely try this one again if I can get my hands on it. This may be a perfect summer drink.

- Adam