Ommegang Ommegeddon

[draught @ Sunset Grill 9/29, 750 ml bottle] Pale golden yellow in color, hazy. Grassy, herbal hop aroma with some mellow funky brett character. Flavors are crisp, clean and mostly bitter at this point. Not sour. I thought the bottled version might contain more funk power, but it seems to be on par with the draught version I had previously. Clean pale malts, loads of powerful Styrian bitterness and grassy/earthy character towards the finish. Super dry finish, tart. Overall, really nice right now-- I’m sure this will get better with some time.

Bottle. Batch #1, June 2007. Pours hazy golden with relatively thin white head. Aroma is floral with hints of citrus fruit, strong yeastiness and bready smells. Soil and earth smells as it warms. Flavor is doughy with tart fruitiness. Has a very light sweetness, not syrupy, but still feels a little artificial. Pleasing, champagne-like dryness. Mouthfeel is creamy, lively with carbonation.

750 ml bottle. Cloudy light golden with a huge white head. Funky and flowery aroma with hints of citrus. Spicy, sour flavor with a lot of funk. Very dry finish. Extremely drinkable.

Pours a cloudy golden straw with a frothy head. The nose is a nice blend of flowers, citrus and funky/bretty yeast. Medium-bodied with creamy-soft carbonation and a tight sour finish. Sour, lightly spicy and citric with a big hit of bretty funk and a lightly dry, mild, lingering, sour finish. I enjoyed this one quite a bit, but at $12 a bottle, I’d be more inclined to grab some Orval the next time I want some bretty goodness.

Great saison! Got this at Bocktown Beer in Robinson and the owner and bartender were jokingly telling me it was awful and I shouldn’t buy it because it was their last bottle. So much complexity in this beer and so easy to drink. Aroma was huge. Funky and flowery aroma with some lemon and yeast in there as well. Pour was a cloudy gold with a nice 1 finger white head that lasted through each glass. Taste was very complex and delicious. Funk, lemon, and hops were all present. A bit of spiciness in the aftertaste. Nice carbonation and an almost creamy mouthfeel if swished. The hops are nice in this beer...more so than any saison I’ve had, but not enough that they stand out. Oh and 8%??!! You would think 5 while drinking it. Hides it incredibly well!

750 ml bottle on turkey day Pale yellow pour, foamy, a bit overly carbonated, not as spicy as I’d expect.

Pours with a big white foam atop a clear straw colored beer. The aroma is getting there. Huge barnyard, some chardonay character and a good smack of spicy grassy noble hops. The body is thin but not watery, rather luscious and satisfying. The flavors are WOW hoppy for a beer that has already been aged for this amount of time. The grassiness is backed by the vinous, funk of the brett. No sourness, just funk and I like it. Not quite as good as Orval, but they tried and good for them for doing it.

Bottle from June 1 2007 batch and the mouthfeel is great with a nice slithery feel. The flavor is a bit wild with some dark cherry-like citrus fruits hidden underneath the ever prominent yeast and dry hops which exude some bitterness on the initial impact. However, the balance is not here and I’d take Hennipen, Rare Vos or the regular Ommegang over this any day. Compared to wild yeast saisons I’ve had, this is okay. The mouthfeel is stellar but the flavor is working its way there.