Ommegang Ommegeddon

Formerly brewed at Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat)
Style: Saison
Cooperstown, New York USA

Serve in Tulip

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UPDATED: JUL 4, 2007 Poured a hazy golden color with a small, white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of sweaty gym socks, hay, brett, citrus, perfume, and yeast. Taste of citrus, spices, orange peel, lots of brett, light lemony hoppiness, and some peppery alcohol.

UPDATED: MAR 2, 2006 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.

UPDATED: JUL 15, 2010 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.

First bottled batch lacked some brett, but was still a pretty good Saison worth about 3.6.

Batch number 2 is a far more successful bottling attempt where the brett can be smelled as soon as the bottle is opened. The dry-hopping is not quite to the incredibly perfumey and fresh levels of the draught, but this still deserves a solid 4.2 to 4.3. Just not as decadent, powerfully aromatic and foamy as the ridiculously brilliant draught batches from the early days.

Batch number 3 is also very good and may reach the excellence of batch 2. This just has never been the solid 4.5+ it was when draught only and decadently aromatic at select festivals.

UPDATED: OCT 1, 2006 BCTC 06 The pour reveals a hazy blonde color with a thin white head. Amazing aroma and flavor of brett, fruits, spices and yeast. The palate is light and dry with soft carbonation. Superb.

UPDATED: AUG 24, 2008 Bottled; batch 2:
This is much better! Great brett presence, comfy malts, good hop accompaniment, harmony throughout. I want more of this one!! 4.2/5

Bottled; batch #1/June 2007:
This is a largely different beast. Dry hopping is nearly absent in the aroma. Brettanomyces funk is present but underdeveloped (especially if you compare to the first kegs they were bringing to festivals). What you have in this batch is a classy, doughy Saison with an authentic mouthfeel and a balanced wild yeast twang which could very well come from the mid-boil hopping. At 5 months, this is very drinkable and obviously beautifully crafted, but this is not the high flyer we were introduced to in festivals. 7/3/8/4 16/20 3.8/5

Multiple samples at different festivals:

The Lure:
From a cloudy pale yellow accoutrement dances and prances a delirious yet ingenious elixir of peppery citrus fruit, uber-flowery bananas, creamy meringue aftershave and cranky musky spices. Pungent, inspiring, unique, utterly amazing. It’s reaching for my nostrils, tastebuds and soul all at once, there’s no running away from it, I am chained.

The Festivities:
All of the superbly complex components of the aroma sing in contemporary polyphonies, leading to a dryish bitter ending. The comfortably fluffy body and carbonation render the totality of flavors near-perfectly, although it all might seem a bit harsh after a full glass of it (note: 2006’s EBF version was a lot more drinkable while being as complex and satisfying, they are so close to perfection!!). I would still like to try tons more to prove (or disprove) this theory. Best of 3 different fests now for me, this brilliant personality has to get out more, this is getting to be urgent.

Transcendence:
A flurry of shooting stars. 10/4/10/4 19/20 4.7/5