Pros: Hugely complex with lots of hops bitterness, esters, and sweet malt
Cons: Big bold flavor and haze will put off the uninitiated...
The Bottom Line: Hennepin is one of the most unusual, distinctive, and authentic renditions of a rare beer style that you can find in the U.S. Big and bold, but not for everyone...
Beer lovers have seen more than their fair share of craft brewery closings over the last three or four years, abut if there is a silver lining to that dark storm cloud, it is that some of the survivors of that war of attrition are among the best and most distinctive breweries in the country. If I had to rank U.S. craft breweries in terms of sheer raw quality of the beers, I think I'd probably put Ommegang in my top 10. They are one of the most traditional brewers, they have an honest love for the world's greatest beers, and they brew distinctive, characterful, bold beer. I'll be honest: I love everything from Brewery Ommegang, but one of their most distinctive beers is almost certainly Hennepin Ale. Let's take a sip, shall we...
What I Expect From this Beer:
Ommegang Hennepin is a very, very rare beast in today's beer world. It's a bottle-conditioned saison, although the brewers at Ommegang don't call it a saison -- they call it a "Grisette farmhouse ale". Make no mistake though, this is a saison -- a style of beer that is the domain of small, traditional brewers from the French-Belgian border region. Saison is usually described as "farmhouse" beer, and if Ommegang's version differs substantially from the classic example, Saison Dupont, its in the original gravity and final alcohol level. Ommegang Hennepin is stronger than most saisons, which range in strength from a low-alcohol version called "childrens strength" to the stronger "saison de mars" which is brewed to just over 15 Plato (1060). With a gravity of closer to 20 Plato and an alcohol level of 7.5%, Ommegang Hennepin is an ale that can pack a wallop! It's closest competitor on the strength index might be Saison Silly, if you can find it.
I expect any saison to be fairly complex without a refined flavor profile, and with very bold and distinguishable malt and hop elements. I expect some fruitiness, I expect a vigorous fermentation, and I expect them to be unique. The style is very hard for most people outside of southern Belgium to ever get a grasp on because it is so uncommon. Fortunately, Americans can now try a couple of domestically brewed versions. Besides Ommegang's Hennepin, there is also the somewhat lighter New Belgium Saison. I've heard of two east-coast U.S. brewpubs experimenting with the style, but I know of no brewpubs who do the style regularly. If you hear of any, send me an email so I can try to check out their brews.
But enough of style chatter, let's get on with the tasting! Ommegang recomends a large bowl-shaped glass for this beer, and I happen to have a few of those courtesy of Chimay, so let's pour a big hearty schooner of ale and see what we've got here...
Savoring the Beer at Hand... Appearance:
Huge rocky head that keeps going and going like an Energizer bunny, but mercifully, without the drum. The color is a deep yellow bordering on the orange. It's got very, very coarse bubbles clinging to the bottom and some light haze when you pour the first glass. The beer comes in 750ml bottles, which are the perfect size for sharing with a friend, but be sure to pour both glasses without tilting the bottle back, because otherwise you kick up the yeast sediment. My second glass had some small chunks of white yeast floating in suspension -- the by-product of a genuine bottle conditioning process.
Aroma:
Hugely complex with lots of fruity esters, especially the unmistakable scent of banana esters, along with some apple and a bit of citrus. There's an unmistakable whiff of soft creamy butter in there (diacetyl), but its at a low enough level that I think it rounds the beer out rather than detracting from it.
Flavor:
My first impression right out of the gate is complex sweetness that's at once malty and sugary. It has the same kind of sucrose-like sugar edge to it that you find in some Trappist ales that are brewed with Belgian candi sugar, but I doubt that the beer is made that way, more likely is that the beer is mashed warmer or for a shorter than usual time in order to leave more unfermentable sugars -- how the beer is actually made isn't the point though, the flavor of substantial residual sugar is unmistakably still there.
While sweetness might have been my first impression, it's sure not my strongest impression. I get lots and lots of gloriously earthy bitter hop flavor in this brew. It's got a wonderful long lingering dry hop aftertaste that just tickles my palate.
Swirling the beer around in my mouth I also get some fruity esters and a little bit of a slightly metallic sharp edge toward the back of my tongue.
Even though the hop bitterness started me thinking that the beer was a little rough and tumble, I have to re-evaluate that position as I take a few more sips and as I swirl the beer around in my mouth. There's really a heck of a lot going on with this beer, and that initial sweetness still keeps hitting me on each sip, it's really a masterfully done balancing act that not only weighs the hop-malt counterpoints, but that works in all the hugely complex yeast contribution, ranging from esters to some diacetyl.
As the beer warms up a bit, I'm really starting to fall in love! It softens a bit and the complex esters and diacetyl and all those other glorious by products of the miracle of fermentation start to surge forward, pushing back on that aggressive hop character. This is just a masterfully sublime drink!
If there's anything that worries me with this beer, it's the unmistakable sensation of some higher alcohols. This is a big, alcoholic beer to begin with, and if there's a few fusels thrown in there, then I could be looking at headache city a little later, but we'll break out the Bayer when we come to that bridge...
Verdict
It is big, it is beautiful. I love this brew, start to finish. It's got a bit of
About Ommegang:
Brewery Ommegang was started about ten years ago in Cooperstown New York. It was the product of Belgian beer importer Van Burg and DeWulf teaming up with professional Belgian brewers from Moortgat to build a unique microbrewery -- one that was devoted solely to traditional Belgian styles and one that would use traditional methods, such as bottle conditioning.
I envy New Yorkers who live close enough to the brewery to try the cave-conditioned version of Hennepin Ale. Only a couple hundred cases are sold, and only direct from the brewery -- the beer is not distributed. After the Hennepin is bottled, it is aged in local caves at a constant 52 degrees.
To find out more about the beer, check out some of the other fine reviews here on epinions, or take a look at the brewery's own web site: www.ommegang.com
Beer and Food
I'm not usually a big fan of matching food to beer since in my mind all beers go with almost everything, however, this is really the beer that can truly stand up to event he biggest, boldest flavors you can throw at it. Strong blue cheeses (stilton) are no problem. Ditto with the gamey flavors of goose, or the big roast beef flavors. Hearty foods for hearty brews!
Bottom of the Bottle:
If you want to be a bold beer geek, swirl that bottle before pouring the last bit in your glass -- ever seen so much sediment? Lots of B-vitamins there kids! So drink up!
And that's exactly what I'm doing. Happily savoring the last glorious drops of this wonderfully crafted liquid gastronomic road trip to the rural breweries of the French-Belgian border region.
This is definitely not a beer for everyone, but if you are a serious beer connoisseur, Ommegang Hennepin is one of those world-class beers that you really must try and you really must savor and reflect on. It won't reward everyone (I gave a glass to my Bud-drinking neighbor and now he hates me for life! ...the philistine!) but Hennepin is most certainly one of those rich, regional flavors that richly reward the adventurous palate. If it's a beer for you, you know it...
Until next time, see you at the bar. I'll be the guy savoring the "weird" beers...
Beer for sale from Gary's Wine & Marketplace. Size: 750 mL standard. region: New York, winetype: Saison / Farmhouse Ale, winetype2: beer, winetype3: C...More at GarysWine.com
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