Beer: Ommegang Abbey Ale
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Price: $5.70 for a 750ml bottle



This is my follow up to the Moinette Brune review. Although not exactly similar, the 2 beers are close enough in style to provide an interesting comparison.

Ommegang is owned/operated by Duvel, who produce some of the most widely distributed Belgian Ales. Everything in the brewery is shipped from Belgium. The only thing American about this beer is the water used. In addition, there is slightly less live yeast used, ostensibly b/c the beer is not shipped across the Atlantic. So this is basically a Belgium beer produced in the US. Why? b/c this way it can be sold for $5.70 instead of $8 or $9.

Anywho, here is how it looks out of the glass



It's darker than the Moinette, with more amber colors. The alchohol (8.5%, same as the Moinette) comes through pretty strongly. Another key difference is the amount of fruit tastes. You can pick up some 'earthy fruit' flavors, like figs and plums, as well as some faint spicy flavors.

The taste and complexity of the beer is excellent. At 60% the price of the import, I think this is the superior value. But I think the slightly stronger alcohol taste puts this American Belgian Ale a small amount below it's old world cousin.

Grade: 4.7/5

I love the beer from Ommegang, and I consider myself blessed to live in the same state so I can easily get it. I have a bottle of their Three Philosopher's ale sitting in my fridge right now. It's a pretty different style, but I may post it as a follow up to your Ommegang because I don't really have any quadrupel/lambic blends to contrast it with. Your review of that Moinette is also making me want to go pick up a bottle next time I'm out .

Summary at the end for everyone who doesn't want to wade through my long... non-expert reviews.

This weekend (over two nights) I tried 4 new beers. Since 3 of the 4 new beers were IPAs, I'm going to start with my standard IPA. After that I reviewed the new ones in order from least favorite to favorite IPA, with an Imperial Stout thrown in at the end.

My "standard" IPA is Summit IPA. I've always liked Summit's beers. They are pretty inexpensive and most of their beers have a very distinct "Summit" flavor... specifically their beers are generally very malty. This one is no different. It has a nice amber color with a medium amount of lighter colored head. It doesn't taste like what you would expect an "American IPA" to taste like at all and I'm sure that turns a lot of people off. There is a definate light hoppy flavor, maybe a hint of caramel... and a heavy malty flavor. I like this beer as it is a good value and probably has some sentimental value as it is the first IPA I ever drank and is brewed a few miles from my house.

Overall, I give it a 3/5, but at ~$7-8/6 with a 5.8%abv, its a pretty good value. Not a "great" beer, but definately a "good" beer... If you are looking for something affordable and like malty beer, give it a try. (after looking it up, I was suprised to find this actually has a higher IBU then the Dogfish 60 (67).

Next comes my least favorite of the 4 new beers I tried, the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Now don't get me wrong, when I say it was my least favorite, I'm not saying I didn't like it. In fact, the opposite was true, this is a very good beer. Good combination of bitter and fruity/hoppy flavors. I thought this was a very drinkable beer. By "drinkable" I mean that I could spend a night just drinking this beer and not grow tired of it at all. I didn't really notice the "metallic" taste acoustix was talking about... I payed $10 for 6 of them (in WI) so its a pretty good value too. Overall I'd give this beer... 3.5/5

The next new IPA was the Dogfish Head 90 min. This was a great beer, one of the best tasting beers I've ever had. Sweet fruity/hoppy flavor. Basically it lived up to all the good things everyone else has had to say about it. At $10/4 its still not a bad deal, especially with a 9% abv. I will definately drink this again in the near future. My only problem with it is that it could be a little too sweet to keep drinking throughout a night. I only had one and every sip of it tasted excellent, but I don't think I'd want more then 2 of these in a night. I'd give this a 4.5/5.

The third and my favorite IPA I tried was the Great Divide Hercules Double IPA. I remembered someone saying one of their other beers was pretty good, so I decided to give this one a try.

First, I think the Dogfish Head "minutes" is the same as their IBU, is that right? The 60 is listed as having an IBU of 60 which is what makes me think so. This one had an IBU of 85, so if I'm right about that, it had almost as much hops added as the Dogfish 90.

When poured, I found it to have quite a bit more head, which lasted longer, then the Dogfish 90. This beer is also a little maltier, which I liked. The extra malty flavor also balances out the high quantity of hops. This beer wasn't as sweet as the 90 but had a great bitter aftertaste that kept me wanting more. I could see drinking this beer from the beginning of the night until it knocks me out. It gets a 4.8/5 and wins the "standard" I will use to compare the next round of IPAs I try. I think I payed $4 or $5 for a 22 oz bottle. It had the most abv of the 4 beers at 9.1%. Right now this is listed as the 5th best IPA in the world and the 36th best overall on ratebeer.com... I would really like to taste the 4 IPAs listed ahead of it.

The last beer I tried this weekend was the Rogue Imperial Stout. On the bottle it says that it is best when aged for one year, the one I had was bottled in 2003. I generally like stouts, but its not my favorite type of beer and as such, I don't have a ton of experience with them...

Anyway, a few people on the ratebeer.com site said this pours like old motor oil and they were right on. This is probably the thickest and blackest stout I've had. Had some dark, caramel colored? head that disipated pretty quickly. Tons of flavor(s) with a chocolatey/coffee aftertaste. Great beer, definately worth trying... but probably not something I'm going to have often in the future. More malt/hops/alcohol then the avg. stout. I think I payed close to $4 for a 12oz bottle (11.6%abv) Still... drinking it was an enjoyable experience and I give it a 4.5/5 overall.


Since this post is probably too long (altho this is the tldr forum) I'll give a quick summary:

Reviewed 3 IPAs I tried for the first time and a local one I've had many times.

Summit IPA = 3/5 light hoppy flavor... VERY malty, especially for an IPA. 5.8%abv, good value at $7-8 per 6pack.

Dogfish Head 60min IPA = 3.5/5. Good balanced but still hoppy flavor. Very drinkable, 6%abv, decent value at $10/6.

Dogfish Head 90min IPA = Loved it. 4.5/5. Sweet fruity/hoppy flavor. Not much bitter flavor or aftertaste. Loved every sip but wouldn't have more then 1-2 in an evening. 9%abv Payed $10 for 4... so not too bad but not an "everyday" beer either.

Great Divide Hercules Double IPA = Loved it. 4.8/5. Not as sweet as the Dogfish Head 90, but with a great bitter aftertaste. 9.1%abv... I think I payed ~$4 for a 22oz bottle. A must try for any IPA lover imo.

I also tried Rogue Imperial Stout. Gave it a 4.5/5. Very dark and thick even for a stout. "pours like motor oil." Delicious but overpriced imo.

All of DogfishHead's "minute" beers reflect the amount of time that hops were added continuously to the brew kettle. The other distinguishing factor between the beers is the alcohol content -- 60-Minute runs about 6% ABV, 90-Minute is 9%, and 120-Minute is somewhere between 15% and 20%.

I just checked their site and apparently the IBU rating on the beers is the same as the number of minutes so they must just add enough hops for 1IBU every minute.

BTW, if you liked 90-Minute and Hercules and want to continue exploring double/imperial IPAs, I would recommend Stone Ruination and Three Floyds Dreadnaught.

For the past couple of years, me and some friends have done a "Beer Madness" tournament, coinciding with the March Madness college hoops tourney, where we put together a bracket of great beers (divided into regions by style) and do blind head-to-head tastings. Winner moves on to the next round, and eventually we crown a champion.

This past year, our list of potential candidates mostly consisted of hoppy beers, so we gave in and made it a hop-fest, with two regions of IPAs, one of pale ales, and a double IPA region. Ruination won the double IPA region, with Dreadnaught coming in second (both Hercules and 90-Minute were part of the field).

So check 'em out...

Good series of reviews. Last time I went beer shopping, I picked up the Great Divide Barley Wine (at the bottom) and was very pleased with it. I was torn at the time between picking up the double IPA and the barley wine. It looks like it was a decision I couldn't get wrong, and I'll have to pick up the double IPA next time.

Their barley wine looks like it gets better reviews then the double IPA. They have a few beers that are supposed to be excellent...

I've always thought they looked like dumb novelty beers, but I guess I was way off...

I don't know if I'd call Ruination a double IPA. To me it doesn't have enough malt to go with the hops. I think of it more as an IPA with double the hops & 40% more malt. Arrogant Bastard is more of a double IPA.

Dreadnaught is an awesome beer. I'm glad to hear that they've started bottling it again, but being in Phoenix that doesn't do me much good.

Another good double IPA is Stoudt's out of PA. Probably one of the best I've tasted.

After a couple of rounds of Bingo at the local club last night I decided to try some Canadian Beer. I didnt have much on me at the time, and could only afford 10 pints, so I can't really tell you how good it was.

Alright. I figured it's about time to contribute to my own thread . As a follow up to KBZ's Ommegang post, I figured I'd review another of their beers, the Three Philosophers. This beer is a quadrupel blended with a cherry lambic, which is a pretty intriguing combination. When I saw this at Beers of the World, I knew I had to try it, considering how much I enjoyed Ommegang's namesake beer and Rare Vos. Not to be outdone by KBZ, here's a picture of the bottle:




This ran me $6.69 for a 750 mL bottle and was the most expensive beer put out by this brewery. Additionally, it was their strongest, at 9.8% ABV. Here's a picture of it right after I poured it into my glass:




Taking a sniff, it has a great but not overly strong smell. You catch a hint of cherries mixed in with the malt. I also smell apple with hints of some other fruit. Upon first sip, though, this beer is surprisingly subtle. The cherry flavor is there, but it's not dominant. It's also a lot less sweet than other quadrupels I've tried. For a 9.8% beer, I don't taste the alcohol at all. You could tell me this was 4-5%, and I'd believe you. The apple flavor comes through pretty well, although I'm not sure where it came from. Now that I think about it, this would be a fantastic beer for cider lovers. It's a little sweet, but not overly so. It's not at all bitter, and the maltiness is mild. Unfortunately, I was expecting something with very strong flavor -- sweet, cherry, malty, rich, and thick -- so I must say I'm a little disappointed by the fact that this is somewhat lighter in flavor. However, if you go into it as a cider lover looking to change things up a bit, you might be pleasantly surprised. This is definitely a fantastic beer to get yourself or your girlfrend (this doesn't have many of the characteristics that make non-beer drinkers cringe) drunk off of. As I said earlier, I don't taste any alcohol, and the lack of hops or overpowering sweetness make it easy to drink. I think, though, that I'm going to be picking up other varieties from this brewery the next time I go shopping, because I really dig stronger flavors. This prevents me from giving it a higher rating.

I give it a out of 5. It's good, but I'd prefer a heavy, rich beer if I'm going to spend this kind of cash. However, it's a fantastic beer for people looking for something a little lighter. This is definitely the kind of beer I'd give to people who say they don't like beer.

Nice review Mr.Wookie! Now I got to give it a go!

nice report. I have a fantastic beer store near me, so I'll snoop around for a blend like this to see if I can post a re-follow up

(MA has no beer delivery services)

Alright, I figured I'd do another beer review tonight. Originally, I had intended to review the Chimay blue tonight instead of the Three Philosophers, but I saw that I hadn't put it in my fridge yet. My solution? Put the Chimay in the fridge, drink the 3P, and THEN drink the Chimay! Anyway, here's a picture of the bottle:



This ran me $10.89 for a 750 mL, so it was pretty costly. It is not quite as strong as the 3P, weighing in at 9% ABV. This bottle was under considerably more pressure than the 3P. The cork nearly flew off after merely twisting it gently. Not surprisingly, it had a larger head than the 3P:



The Chimay is similar in color to the 3P, but not in smell. I smell a little wood, plum, apple, a little more sweetness, and a few other things my olfactory isn't sufficiently trained to identify. Taking a sip, this is markedly sweeter than the Ommegang 3P, but not so much as to dominate. I definitely taste the plum and apple with the malt. The plum flavor is not like the reddish purple plums with the orange flesh. It's the Italian plums like I had growing in my backyard as a kid: purple with yellow-green flesh, and that my fat dog loved to eat as they fell off the tree. Now for the important part: how do I rate this relative to other trappists I've had? Well, this is strictly better than the Orval. It has much more flavor in all areas. Relative to the Rochefort 10, though, this tastes like a different sort of beer. The Rochefort was somewhat dry and very earthy, whereas the Chimay blue is somewhat sweet and a little fruity. I might say that the Rochefort is the trappist for people who love good Scotch, and Chimay blue is the trappist for people who love fine brandy/Cognac/Armagnac. Again, this beer wasn't quite in line with what I expected, having tried the Orval and the Rochefort, but it was in line with what I like -- Fairly strong flavor, good sweetness without being too much, and I like the fruit and malt. I'm going to go ahead and give this and a half . The flavor is great, but not quite so rich as to be ideal. This is not quite as good of a beer for people looking to find an in-road for non-beer drinkers as the 3P, but as a veteran beer drinker looking for new pleasures, I like this better. As far as value goes, I'd consdier this beer slightly overpriced. It's not outrageous for an import of this caliber to cost almost $11 from the store I was shopping at, but $11 is still a lot of money for a 750 of beer.

In summary, it's not quite as ideal as something sufficently rich to get the full 5 's, and it's not a particularly great value, but it's still a great beer. I'll keep searching for the ideal, though, and I'll love every sip .

Agreed that Ruination is on the lower end of the ABV scale (7.7%) for a double IPA. But Arrogant Bastard only runs at 7.2%, so I don't think it qualifies, either. Double Bastard (10%), on the other hand, is definitely a double.


I hear ya. They stopped selling Three Floyds beers in NY a few years ago, so I only get to drink it when I visit the midwest. Their Alpha King is one of my all-time favorites.


I've heard raves about many of Stoudt's brews, but I was unimpressed with their pale ale and double IPA. Maybe it was because I tasted them along with other beers, which adversely affected my taste buds. I'll give 'em another shot.