Ommegang Gnomegang

Brewed By: Brewery Ommegang (Moortgat) with Brasserie d’Achouffe (Moortgat) in Cooperstown, New York

Purchased: Ye Olde Bomber (25.4oz) from a Ommegang samplre bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Belgian Strong Ale, 9.5%

Ommegang is one of those legendary breweries you start to hear really good things about when you hang around craft beer drinkers for long enough. I'm happy that tonight I will be popping my Ommegang cherry, but in typical ironic fashion, tonight's beer is a collaboration between the Ommegang brewery and Brasserie d’Achouffe. So technically...this isn't really my first Ommegang beer.

Ommegang was founded in October of 1997, in Cooperstown, New York. The Ommegang Brewery is set up on a traditional, Belgian-style framhouse, and brews a number of acclaimed beers.

Brasserie d'Achouffe is a Belgian brewery based in Achouffe, Belgium. They were founded in 1982, and by 1988 they were exporting beer to Quebec. They are probably most know for their beer, La Chouffe, and for the gnomes that appear on their bottle artwork.

Interestingly enough, both Ommegang and Brasserie d'Achouffe are owned by Duvel Moortgat. Brasserie d'Achouffe was purchased by Moortgat in September 2006, and Ommegang was sold to Moortgat in 2003. Ommegang Ales are made both in Belgium and in Cooperstown, New York.

Despite being owned by Moortgat, I believe that both breweries operate as separate entities - so the breweries are left to do their own thing. As such, the back-story to this collaboration is this: in the summer of 2010, brewers from Brasserie d ‘Achouffe visisted Ommegang. They decided to create a collaboration beer to "bridge both farmsteads across the Atlantic Ocean." This beer uses Chouffe yeast in the primary fermentation, and Ommegang yeast in the secondary. This beer also uses Pilsner malts, Saaz hops, clocks in at 9.5% ABV, and packs 19 IBUs.

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The pour yields a hazy, straw-colored, orange yellow beer. There was about a fingers worth of head, and the head is made of hundreds of white bubbles. This definitely has a "Strong Ale" head, which looks like a thin layer of sediment on the top of the beer. There is some lacing, and alcohol legs. There is quite a bit of carbonation, and the beer is very effervescent. There is some yeast sediment floating around.

The aroma is fruity and spicy, and has a lot of Belgian Strong Ale qualities, with some spice and candy qualities that remind me of a Tripel. There are apples, oranges, peaches, pears, candied oranges, giant spicy clove and pepper notes, caramel and toffee from the huge Pilsner malts, huge Yeasty-barnyard notes including fruitiness, farmhouse, and funk. There are also some slight pulls towards banana, clove, and white sugar. Maybe slight sour or tart, I will have to see when I taste it if that pans out. Definitely more on the spiced and candy side than the sour/lacto/Brett side.

Ommegang Gnomegang

Wow! The taste is awesome. Creamy as hell with a huge malty front, and lots of subtle explosions of fruits. Creamy, malty, grain, caramel, toffee, berries, big clove and pepper, overripe pears and apples, apple orchard, farmhouse, candied apples, candied oranges, peaches, melon, overripe fruit, candy. Really dry on the back end, there is slight alcohol burn/warmth on the back-back palate. 

This is super smooth but well supported by the carbonation. I would say this is a medium-light beer. This is super drinkable, although at 9.5% ABV you want to pace yourself. This is very sweet and spicy, but it has a very clean palate and finishes nicely (and refreshingly!). The front end is smooth, creamy, carbonation, Pilsner malts, grain; this rolls into huge clove, candied notes, berries, apple orchard, pears, toffee, caramel; the back end is more toffee, caramel, hints of lingering fruit, dryness; the back-back end is warming alcohol burn, lingering malts, and giant peaches and melons. This is complex, has great palate depth, and hits the style marks just right.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 88%

It's kind of sad that this is a one-off, limited edition beer. You'd think that since Moortgat owns both breweries they could keep the collaboration going.

I'm really loving the spiciness, candied notes, and HUGE PEACHES I'm belching up! I'm getting BIG peaches and melon on the back end of this thing. The head retention is excellent as well, with a great cauldron effect chilling on the top of my glass.

The Belgian Strong Ale style is perhaps my favorite style of beer, and this is a very good execution of the style. The only thing holding this back from moving into really divine beer territory is that the Belgian Strong Ale category is flooded with over-the-top, memorable beers. This beer reminds me of a spicy, candied Duvel, and a well-executed one at that. I would NOT hesitate to buy this beer, and I would drink it again. This is a great beer, and a great show of craftsmanship for the style. Pick it up if you see it, and enjoy.