Ommegang Three Philosophers

Brewed by Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat)
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Cooperstown, New York USA

750->tulip: Pours a huge, frothy, light brown head, atop a cloudy, ruby body. Aroma is of light malt, cookie, and caramel. The body is medium, the texture thin, with an astringent finish. The flavor’s duration is average, being lightly sweet, acidic, and bitter.

Caged/corked bottle of a classic I’ve somehow been remiss in databasing. Solid head on a bright red beer. Aroma is of a musty farmhouse. Drinks with a nice earthy character with just the simplest hint of the cherry plus-up. This goes great with chocolate desserts. (#3519, 2/23/2009)

Bottle. Aroma has notes of yeast, raisin, toasted malts. Deep dark amber hue with a large off-white foamy head that mostly lasted and left good lace. Flavor is yeasty, malty, earthy, and a little sweet. Palate is medium to full bodied and oily lively. Was hoping for more cherries which were barely noticable. A solid abt/quad but I wouldn’t buy another bottle.

Pours reddish brown. White head diminishes to a thin lace cap. Dark fruit and malt on the nose. After several sips I’m able to pick up the cherry notes. Carobonation is a nice foil to the big alcohol.

2007 Bottle. Poured a bright brown with a tan head. Aromas of raisin, prune, roasted malts, and a light alcohol background. The flavor has prune, chocolate malts, and light alcohol. Medium to full body with a fruit aftertaste. Nice!!

12oz Bottle. $3.99 Julio’s Liquors. I found this to have just the right amount of cherry in it. The label states 98% ale blended with 2% cherry ale. Seemed like the right formula. The head made nice circles that remained throughout. Surprised to find that there was no sediment. This is a well crafted beer which I will definitely have again.

2008 Bottle. Pours a dark translucent caramel with a diminishing tan head. The aroma is strong of effervescent cherries with some yeasty qualities in the background. The initial flavour is sweet with the berry citrus— cherries and cranberries—and some yeasty notes. The yeast notes fade a little as the brew sits in the mouth. As the brew passes, allowing the taste buds to breathe, the hops become slightly evident and the citrus bite heightens. After its peak, the citrus diminishes allowing some caramel flavours to awaken and making the yeast more evident again. The beer is pretty smooth throughout the tasting up until the finish. The finish becomes moderately dry, much like a dry citrus, with some light bitter notes. It’s a delicious beer, but as a quadrupel it seems to me to be a little too sweet.

Paired with a Wenslydale (with Cranberries) cheese.
The cheese: It is mildly sweet and initially creamy, but becomes dry towards its finish. The cranberries are almost too overpowering, though, as there are quite a bit of cranberries in this cheese. However, consuming the cheese itself, it has the perfect amount of cranberry flavour.
The pairing: As expected, the cranberries pair well with the citrus flavours of the beer. The flavour of the cheese is too mild to affect the flavour of the beer save for slightly accentuating the sweetness of the beer. But it’s the texture of the cheese that’s the magic of this pairing. The initial mouthfeel of the beer becomes smoother as the finish no longer becomes dry. The hops in the finish is now masked with the creaminess of the cheese which also extends the smoothness of the beer into the finish. The cranberries in the cheese brings more attention to the berry citrus in the finish. I really enjoy this pairing.

Malts, caramel and slight berries, notably cherries and raspberries. Medium amber color, slightly slick and medium to light body. Toffee, caramel, light pear, orange and cherries. Medium finish, light sweetness but not distracting.