Brewery Ommegang Bier De Mars
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:39 pm
Infected Sessions (Brewery Ommegang Bier De Mars)
(blog post with pic - http://brewdogblog.com/2009/01/infected ... r-de-mars/)
Brewery Ommegang is many things — a beautiful brewhouse on a former hop farm, the westernmost outpost of the Duvel Moortgat empire, host of the anual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown festival, and one of the staunchest upholders of traditional Belgian brewing anywhere in the world. Ommegang is also one of the most widely distributed American Craft Breweries — it’s everywhere. They make some excellent beers and some others that are a bit tame for my tastes, but after my experience with Bier De Mars, I think I’m going to go back and give them all another fair shake — it’s been a while.
Bier De Mars is a beautifully dry, low ABV reddish beer in approximately the Biere de Garde style. Biere de Garde is a style akin to Saison - not wholly well defined, but recognizable when you see one. Bier De Mars has the additional flavor and aroma profile which is contributed by the use of Brettanomyces Yeast, which gives an excellent musky aroma and a slight tartness on the palate. This beer pours with a big, crackling frothy white head that releases a great deal of Brett aromas and a nice hint of malt as well — there is a nice amount of body up front, but as any good Belgian beer does, it finishes very dry. Quite a digestible, sessionable beer that controls the use of Brett in an excellent way. A bottle conditioned, corked and caged bottle, I think this would be a good beer to try and age — the character could really develop over time. This beer definitely gives any other “Infected Sessions†beers (logo by Maya coming soon) a run for their money, and knowing that at certain times of the year I can get a champagne bottle full of this stuff for under $20 (in some cases, much less) is just awesome. For a brewery on the scale of Ommegang to produce a beer like this is not only gutsy, it shows a hell of a lot of just plain skill. Score another one for New York, and embrace the wild yeast — let this infect your next session, you won’t be sorry.
(blog post with pic - http://brewdogblog.com/2009/01/infected ... r-de-mars/)
Brewery Ommegang is many things — a beautiful brewhouse on a former hop farm, the westernmost outpost of the Duvel Moortgat empire, host of the anual Belgium Comes to Cooperstown festival, and one of the staunchest upholders of traditional Belgian brewing anywhere in the world. Ommegang is also one of the most widely distributed American Craft Breweries — it’s everywhere. They make some excellent beers and some others that are a bit tame for my tastes, but after my experience with Bier De Mars, I think I’m going to go back and give them all another fair shake — it’s been a while.
Bier De Mars is a beautifully dry, low ABV reddish beer in approximately the Biere de Garde style. Biere de Garde is a style akin to Saison - not wholly well defined, but recognizable when you see one. Bier De Mars has the additional flavor and aroma profile which is contributed by the use of Brettanomyces Yeast, which gives an excellent musky aroma and a slight tartness on the palate. This beer pours with a big, crackling frothy white head that releases a great deal of Brett aromas and a nice hint of malt as well — there is a nice amount of body up front, but as any good Belgian beer does, it finishes very dry. Quite a digestible, sessionable beer that controls the use of Brett in an excellent way. A bottle conditioned, corked and caged bottle, I think this would be a good beer to try and age — the character could really develop over time. This beer definitely gives any other “Infected Sessions†beers (logo by Maya coming soon) a run for their money, and knowing that at certain times of the year I can get a champagne bottle full of this stuff for under $20 (in some cases, much less) is just awesome. For a brewery on the scale of Ommegang to produce a beer like this is not only gutsy, it shows a hell of a lot of just plain skill. Score another one for New York, and embrace the wild yeast — let this infect your next session, you won’t be sorry.
