Cave Aged Ommegang!
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 | Announcements, Beer News, Tasting Reviews
Cave Aged Ommegang was the highlight of March Testing
Sorry this is so late getting out — busy month. First a couple of announcements…
April beertasting is at Andrew W. house. The theme will be hoppy beers — in honor of the humulus lupulus plant that is used to flavor many of our finer beers. In the midst of the current (hopefully short-lived) hop shortage, we will be drinking our favorite beers with a predominant hop quality — while they are still available. Excellent suggestion Pete!
Also, for anyone interested, Lee Hill of Sierra Nevada will be at Dorothy Lane in Oakwood Wednesday, April 16 (tonight if you read this immediately), I tried to research who Lee Hill is, but couldn’t find anything on the guy, but I’m sure it will be interesting. Also, Friday night, April 18 is a Belgium beer tasting event at “A Taste of Wine” in Miamisburg. I’ve not been to a tasting event here, but it’s a quaint little wine/beer store with a built in tasting bar that looks like it has lots of atmosphere. Sally and I may attend if we can get a babysitter.
I’ve been exchanging emails with a New Jersey Beertasting club has seen our website. They’ve expressed interest in a joint beertasting event sometime in the near future where perhaps we set up a simulcast and co-ordinate the beer list so that we each have the same selections. I’m not sure how this would work exactly or if it would be worth the trouble, but I thought I’d open it up for thoughts, ideas, comments?
March brought on March Madness. And although we had a lot of people out this month, Dave still hosted an excellent event as we all cheered on Belmont as they nearly sent Duke packing in the first round. Here’s the notes I took on some of our selections.
- Dave S. (host) - Pyramid Hefeweizen, Barrel house Cumberland Pale Ale
- Steve — Stone Russian Imperial, Cave Aged Three Philosophers
- Andrew – Anchor Porter (?)
- Chuck — New Holland Red Tulip
- Jay — Wooden Shoe Bock + Ommegang Abbey Ale (?)
Steve wins some major bonus points this month. The Stone Russian Imperial is number 12 on the top 100 list, the highest rated beer we’ve had this year. And I thought it lived up to its rating — with a smooth sweet chocolate malt taste - a very heavy, complex and filling beer. In addition, Steve brought the Ommegang special edition Cave Aged Three Philosophers. From my notes, I recall a bold hoppy start, with a alcohol finish and a characteristic Belgium yeast flavor.
The Cave-Aged label got me curious to see what was special about aging beer in caves, and here is what I found on theOmmegang website…
“We set out to replicate as closely as possible the conditions that produce extraordinary champagnes,” explained Randy Thiel. “The virtues of cave-aging are well understood by champagne producers. There is no doubt that these dark, silent, subterranean “cathedrals” are the ideal surroundings for secondary fermentation and maturation of wines (and beers). It is further known that cold constant temperature between 50 and 55 degrees leads to great complexity, and that the colder the storage, the slower the maturation.”
Another beer that got my attention was the Barrel House Cumberland Pale Ale, with a very sweet hops! We also tasted Ommegang Abbey Ale (I think Jay brought this as a bonus), which I noted had a unique licorice flavor to it. Finally, the Anchor Porter scored high marks for its drinkability and roasted malt flavors.
Here’s the lineup (the rating for Three Philosphers is the regular Three Philosophers, not enough reviews for the Cave Aged beer to be ranked).
- Pyramid Hefeweizen BA C+ RB 32
- Wooden Shoe Bock BA B+ RB 35
- Stone Russian Imperial Stout (#12) BA A RB 100
- New Holland Red Tulip Ale BA B RB 60
- Ommegang Cave Aged Three Philosophers * BA A- RB 97
- Ommegang Abbey Ale BA A- RB 97
- Barrel House Cumberland Pale Ale BA B RB 68
- Anchor Porter BA A- RB 98
MVP POINTS TOTAL
Steve definitely gets some bonus points for his two selections and surpasses Andrew for first place (unless Andrew had a bonus beer that I didn’t give him credit). The Stone Russian Imperial Stout is in the top 100 (#12). The Cave Aged Three Philosophers was not in the top 100, but I gave him 3 extra points for originality and uniqueness, plus the points for bringing a bonus beer. Dave moves up the list for hosting and bringing a bonus as well. We had one more bonus beer, which I believe was Jay’s. Let me know if I’ve made any mistakes….
Prev Total March Score New Total
- Steve B 30 14 44
- Andrew S. 39 3 42
- Dave S 6 16 22
- Mike 18 0 18
- Luke 16 0 16
- Jay 9 6 15
- Chuck 11 3 14
- Steve V. 6 0 6
- Zombie 6 0 6
- Todd 6 0 6
- Pete 6 0 6
- Dave H 3 0 3
- Joe 1 0 1
4 Comments to Cave Aged Ommegang!
Chuck writes:
“For the April tasting at Jay’s house here is the lineup so far…
Chuck — Dreadnaught IPA
Steve — Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA (90 IBU’s)
Jay — Smooth Hoperator
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/394/36670
Fits the theme definitely by name, not by style, but the reviews all talk about hops in the taste/flavors
Pete — Great Divide Titan IPA
beerloverApril 16, 2008
Steve B writes:
“The cave aged beer was the Ommegang Abbey Ale. Jay brought the 3P.”
beerloverApril 21, 2008
Steve B writes:
“I heard rumors that Todd is bringing Bell Two-Hearted Ale…”
beerloverApril 23, 2008
Zombie writes:
“Online Friday beertasting can be viewed at
http://www.fridaybrew.tv/FriBrewPlayer/FriBrewPlayer.html
I, along with Dale and Kevin are called out in the 28 March (Ed: corrected date) review.
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April 16, 2008