Ommegang Three Philosophers

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

Serve in Trappist glass

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UPDATED: DEC 12, 2003 White Labelled 2003 Release (bottle 2):
Ruby tinted amber colour with a super dense tan head. Aroma slightly of cherries, but favouring malt, raisins, plums and alcohol. Medium-bodied; Sweet caster sugar/caramel sweetness. Slight sourness midway through, but not lasting long. Aftertaste bittered from the malt, not left clean. Overall, not pleasing, not a great value, and therefore a pretty big dissapointment! This 75 cL bottle was purchased at Beers of the World in Rochester, New York and sampled on 11-December-2003.

White Labelled 2003 Release (bottle 1):
Ruby-tinted brown coloured body. Slight smokey aroma, malt cherries and metal. Medium to Light-bodied; Spicey malty taste with some cherries. Aftertaste bittered-some peppery and not terribly pleasant. Overall, decent-but less than what I had expected. Quite simply, yet another unsatisfying beer from Ommegang. This one isn't even a great value at $8 a 75 cL bottle. I had this bottle at the Winter Party at Oakes' place in Toronto, Canada on 05-December-2003.

UPDATED: JUL 29, 2005 Re-rate July 2005. 341 mL. Ruby tinged brown body, small beige head. Funky alcoholic aroma, mild notes of fruit. Dry flavour, malty middle. Phantom fruit throughout. Medium palate. Decent but not really in tune with my palate. Meh. 6/3/6/3/12 <P> Original Rating Dec 2003. 750 mL. Hazy dark amber colour, with a film of a head on mine. Big alcohol aroma with a fruity tartness. Mouthfeel was vinuous and interesting. I can’t say I enjoyed this one as much as I had hoped. 6/4/5/3/12

Brewed 2003 - 750 ml. Bottle. Poured with a long lasting, medium sized tan head. The beer was a deep reddish brown in color. This is an absolutely delicious beer with a delicious blend of malt and cherries. It isn't overly sweet like a lambic, and it has a nice 9.8% ABV which is masked very well. I found a new and unusual winter warmer.

Winey, Belgian brune aroma -- some cocoa and tart fruit. Good bottle, label and deep chestnut brown beer with darkish oatmeal-like foam. New, the beer is sweet, though I imagine this dries out some during cellared conditioning. Vanilla, nuts, tartness, prominent alcohol, sturdy woody bittering in the flavor profile. Alcohol bittering is a bit too clingy in the roof of the mouth sometimes. Medium-long finish. Good weight for a cold winter night -- just a tad over medium body.

Malty, strong alcoholic beer, with a good tart bite from the Lindemans Kriek. Noticable cherry aftertaste. Overall, has many winelike qualities, some similar to port. My fav from Ommegang.

2003 white label. Deep dark amber color, some sediment but no haze, thin but firm tan head. Sweet malt and plum/raisin aroma with a touch of cinnamon. Flavor is malty and sweet with raisin again and a touch of cherry. Cherry flavor is like that of a dark-chocolate covered cherry, slightly tart. Medium to full body, slightly dry finish. Pretty good.

Mahogney colored. Malty, raisin aroma with a hint of cherries. Dry malty raisin flavors, with a slight tartness and chocolatey cherry flavors in the finish.

Clearish dark orange-amber. Some sediment. Tan head of small, tight bubbles. Malty (caramel), rum & raisin aroma w/ some cinnamony spiciness. Medium-full bodied. Flavour profile is similar to aroma (malt, rum, raisin, cinnamon) but with a chocolate coated cherry character.

UPDATED: JAN 31, 2006 Rerate Just all around better this time around - pick up some prunes, dark chocolate and caramel - much thick er this time around as well and stronger aroma - good raisiny muskiness. Original - 3.3 2003 - 750 ml bottle. Pours with a light amber color, sparkles in the light. Thin, off-white head with a fair amount of lacing. Very faint aroma - but it is reminiscent of cherry cola. Mouthfeel is a bit thin in texture, but has some elements of licorice. Flavor has some elements of cherry with light hints of muted spices and not much else. I really wanted to like this one - but it is sadly lacking in many respects. Very smooth and goes down easy considering the 9.8 ABV - just not a whole lof of excitement here.

2003. Rich mahogony with a nice thick froth. Sour cherries and yeast in the nose. Very rich burnt flavor. The alcohol overpowers any other flavors that might be there. Cherry aftertaste. I'm glad I tried this, but I'd much rather get one of this brewery's other products.