Ommegang Ommegeddon

Pours a bright golden straw with a billowing snow white head. The sides of my Duvel glass are blanketed with lace.
The aroma displays lemon-lime, dust, "horse blanket", and herb garden notes.
Oh yeah! The brettanomyces has taken hold. Very tart. Still, plenty of herbal and citrus character to cut through the brett...for now.
Plenty of body. High carbonation. Damn near bone dry finish.
I feel like I’ve been beat about the head with bitterness and tartness...AND I LOVE IT!!!

Hazy gold, huge foamy white head. Nose was complex with a soft lemon meringue grassiness that warms into hints of barnyard funk and peppered pear fruitiness. Lightly sweetened grains rest easy over the lemon peppery bitterness and hints of soured grassy funk. Light to medium bodied, soft carbonation, dry bitter finish. Very nice now, but I could tell that the brett was slowly working it’s magic. Give it 4-6 more months to have yourself a gem…

The aroma was brett all the way with an earthy hop presence and a sweetness lurking way in the background. A bit of citrus tickled the nasal passages accompanied by a light bit of spice. The beer poured into the chalice with a very slight haze and a loose bubbly head which fell moderately to the edges of the surface and left light tracings on the glass. The flavor was light and without any real assertive qualities. Brett was present and notable with some earthy hop characteristics. Spices emerged as the beer warmed but for the most part the bittering was even with malt and neither was in the forefront. The finish was ultimately dry with light ginger and citrus in the aftertaste. The only hint of alcohol came in the warming after consumption. The body was just under medium-full and the carbonation was a bit low. A nice brew, very easy to consume, but not overly interesting. 750 ml corked and bailed bottle. Batch 1, June 2007.

750ml - Cloudy pour, white head, wild nose. Palate like a kriek, more like a lambic than anything else I’ve tasted. Nice.

pours a nice cloudy golden color with a small white head.Has bready and Citrus on the nose.A nice mellow saison where everthing blendend nicely.Citrus, spices, bready, slight sourness with some earthiness.Overall this brew finished clean with a slight tartness.

10/13/07
Corked 750ml bottle. Pours a hazy pale golden with a lasting paper white head and some decent lacing. The aroma is of lemons with light spices and some ginger. As the brew warms a little, there seems to be a weird funk to the aroma like worn socks. As it hits the tongue, acidity seems to be pretty dominant with grassy notes following closely behind. Slight bitterness hits as the brew passes the tongue and the grassy notes become more apparent. Ginger flavours start to burst more. At first sip the finish is just slightly dry. But as you continue to consume it, it becomes increasingly dry. Overall, this isn’t too robust. It’s very mild and laid back.

3/08/08
Five-month aged bottle shared with NachlamSie. The aroma is mildly dry with strong citrus and sweet, carmelly notes. The citrus has seem to become less intense like lemons and more towards a milder variety, such as oranges. Spices seem to be as apparent in the aroma as much as the first tasting. The flavour is much like the previous tasting of five months ago, but a good amount of sourness has burst since then. This is quite interesting since once the brew hits the tongue, it feels like my saliva is being consumed; it’s pretty dry. Bitterness is a little more intense as well. Citrus and bready flavours mix quite well in the finish. The finish also has an interesting flavour and mouth-feel that I can only describe as "cheesy." This tasting is definitely a much better experience than the last. I can see how this has matured in the months.

One more bottle to crack open in at least five more months.
7/12/09
Corked 750ml bottle, shared with NachlamSie and Muenster. Okay, it’s been a little longer than five months. The original plan was drinking a fresh Ommegeddon, a 5 month aged, and a 10 month to a year aged. Well, this one has been aging for 1.75 years. Lets see how it holds up. Well, it’s been sitting for a while so all the sediment has accumulated to the bottom of the bottle. This pours crystal clear golden yellow with a nice, lasting paper-white head. The aroma is still has some of that crisp ginger and lemon, but has lots of yeasty funk. It’s like fermented feet. Hah hah, I kind of expected that from aging this. The brew is very carbonated and gives that nice tingle as it sits on the tongue. The initial flavour is moderately spiced. As the brew warms on the tongue it increasingly becomes cheesier and cheesier up until you just feel like you have a block of artistan cheese sitting on your tongue. It’s SO cheesy. As it passes the citrus notes become apparent. Spices start to overpower the cheese. As you get into the finish the citrus is non-existent and spices fade slowly as the yeasty, cheesy flavour becomes dominant. This is actually exactly as I expected out of aging this. It’s interesting, I like it a lot. Aging this definitely enhanced its flavour in my opinion. I think I’ll bump it up a decimal.

Caged corked 750 ml. bottle, "Batch #1 June 2007" on the the neck label, blurb and cellaring suggestion along the right side of front label, temperature and serving suggestions on the the back label, sampled in a wine glass. Cloudy appearance, bright orangey golden in color, frothy white head with good retention. The head slowly dissipated into a creamy foam lacing, small amount of laced sticking. I like the look of this, a good start. Earthy must and herbal smells in the beginning, followed by sweet ginger and citrus. Further whiffs reveal smells of honey and grainy crackers. A light pepper spiciness and hints of dry grass. The carbonation lends a soft firmness to the mouthfeel, airy light medium body, smooth and a bit silky in the palate. A good crisp body and a succulently dry finish. Restrained earth and must wild yeast taste, then tart lemony citrus. Ginger and herbal spices, pinches of white pepper. Towards the end a mild dry hop spiciness comes out to linger on the tongue. The Belgian pale malts, along with the dry cracker pilsener malts, provide a nice backbone to the preceding, the right amount of fermented sugar sweetness. Everything stays in balance, tart, sour, earth and spice, every ingredient in the right proportions. I like Ommegang, I think all their Belgian style ales are quality offerings, and this is no exception. A silky serene sipper, well worth trying.

Re-rate... Bottle... It’s less hot and a touch more acidic. Moving along nicely. Score adjusted from 3.4 to 3.8...****Original rating**** ... Bottle... Hazy, light yellow ale with a mid-sized, fizzy, white head. Decent retention. Moderate, spicy, clove phenols stand alongside under-ripe banana, ginger, pale grains and straw in the aroma. The flavor centers on grainy sweetness up front with moderate bitterness and very mild acidity bringing up the rear. Medium to full-bodied with a skim-milk mouthfeel and prickly carbonation. Lightly acidic, coarse, dry finish. It’s getting there, but could use another several months in the bottle. I look forward to giving this one another go.