Ommegang Rare Vos

Pours an iced tea color with a yhin white head. Aroma is fruity and malty. Taste is spicy, fizzy, yeasty. A little too carbinated for me.

Robe blonde dorée très claire surmontée d’une mousse blanche épaisse en dentelle qui persiste. Arômes légers de malt. Saveurs de levures, de malt, de blé et de houblon fruité.

Aromas of bread, yeast, spice, citrus. Hazy amber color with a white head that lasts awhile. Medium bodied, a bit fizzy in carbonation. Interesting impacts on lips and tongue. Light stone fruit, yeast, spice, malt, but hop is far down the line. The finish is mildly sweet and fruity. There’s a hint of bitter, but not much. After awhile I think some orange comes out.

Cloudy orange color, large tan head and subdued carbonation. Sweet honey, molasases, and orange aroma with bready overtones. Considerably less carbonated palate than others of this style and a medium thickness, this is a welcome change. A mature taste leaning towards bitter hops and a crisp finish. This is a different kind of belgium, and I like it.

750ml. Bottle $5.29 Sam’s Downers Grove Rare Vos is another I haven’t had in a long time but was one of my favorites. Pours a hazy amber with a glass full of quickly rising carbonation bubbles. A 1+ finger off white loosely packed head formed on the pour and slowly faded to a thick cap leaving lacing on it’s way down. Leaves thin spotty lacing. Good looking beer. Slight metallic twang starts things off but leads into a doughy yeastiness. Toasted grains abound along with a scent that reminds me of melted vanilla ice cream. Strange but true. Very mild sourness. This beer tastes as good as I remember it. Starts off with a solid dose of doughiness along with powdery yeast. Toasted grains in the flavor as well. Very soft spices that I can’t put my finger on right now. Nutmeg is present though, more so as it warms. A very well made beer. Medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation. Carbonation is prickly on the tongue and turns the body frothy on the swallow. Finishes fairly dry. Awesome drinkability. Lower abv lets you drink this pleasurably for as long as you can. This is still one of my favorites. I need to get back in the habit of buying this often. A great beer for a great price. 4/7/07

Oh my it’s Ommegang! Funny how you think of that name as being imported. This is the Rare Voss buddy, which means something else in Flemmish. Rare is sly and voss is fox? 12 oz brown bottle, thanks to Nuts. The pour is great, like a very dark wheat beer. Swirling things in there from the gunk on the bottom of the bottle. Don’t you just love that? The aroma on the other hand is strictly business. Winelike. Sweet fruity strong alky indications. Nice creamy off white head. As far as the flavor goes, it does have an alky impact but not quite like a +6%, it is smoother and more mannered than many above fin brews. Malty nearly bitter impact imparts itself on the back of your tongue. Now I recall than it did look somewhat syrupy when I poured it. It has some sweetish syrupy effects on the palate. The carbonation is unnoticeable, tho present, due to the distraction from the rest of the complexities. Finish is somewhat whiskey like without water, perhaps even winish. Something like corsendonk on steroids, but isn’t it odd that Corsey has more alky % than this? Either way it is high end. Possibly better than Lagunitas #10 (formerly #9)., but on par with other good Belgians. Tho I consider Belgian ale to be bitter medicine, I think possibly bruge zot was better to drink than this. Michigan Brewing Celis Pale Bock and leff blonde may also be similar to voss.

Pour was a beautiful copper with a nice consistent head. Aroma had a slight doughy yeast note and a hint of orange spice. Very little hop evident. As the beer warmed, the aroma intensified. Head was subtle, but more than sufficient and carbonation was constant.I sensed a slight sweetness, with a hint of spice. Palate: medium body, creamy, lively, long finish.

Rated 4/9/06: This came across as a nice example of a Belgium Amber, even though I’m relatively new to the style this is a solid beer. Pour was an intense copper with abundant head and lacing, both of which lasted for the entire experience. Constant carbonation is visible. The aroma came across similar to other Belgian styles that I have had, in fact it smelled similar to a saison. I believe it is the yeast that produces this unique aroma and flavor. Somewhat spicy and hoppy, there was a definate presence of sweet malts, perhaps a touch of caramel. The flavor is good although a bit weak in my opinion when compared to the aroma. Malty with nice overtones of spices and fruits, there is a well deserved hop finish in the flavor that is especially nice. Tasty and complex a truly enjoyable beer.