Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Ommegang Cup O Kyndnes


Ommegang from Cooperstown, New York is one of the best Belgian style breweries in the country. I think their standard line up is extremely solid, and their special seasonal brews some of the best around. Ommegang has a strong connection to Belgium and its brewing traditions in that they are owned by Duvel Moortgaart makers of Duvel and Maredsous beers. Every once in a while Ommegang releases special one off beers that are blends of newer world and older world traditions. Examples in the past have been their Belgian Pale ale, or Triple Perfection. How they have brewed a special Belgian Scotch ale brewed with Belgian yeast and heather tips as well as some smoked malts.
The Beer: This brew weighs in at 6.8% and pours a light nutty brown with a thick dense head of tan colored foam. The nose is malty, smokey notes, floral. The mouth is full bodied, chewy creamy, very malty. Hints of smoke along with vanilla, raisins, figs, dark rich fruits. Spicy notes and floral ones a the beer warms, even more smoke. Some estery notes from the Belgian yeasts and slight hints of cherries. A wonderful unique beer, rich and creamy, but with the somewhat low strength one that you can drink a lot of sipping at night as the weather cools. This one gets a strong A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

6 comments:

SirRon said...

I bought Cup O Kyndnes recently... haven't tried it yet.

I'd like to add that Ommegang made the best Belgian beers in America before they sold a majority stake to Duvel. From what I understood of the deal back when it was made, it was a win-win in that it opened the door for Duvel to more easily import their beer brands and also gave Ommegang the cash and resources needed to expand their distribution.

Anyway, now I'm thirsty.

Barleyvine said...

Ron agreed that Ommegang was making good beers before being purchased, I just think they have gotten better, and are doing more different things.

air said...

Got a bottle of this at home as well and excited to try it out.

It's become tougher to find around Dallas, so I'm curious, are these still on shelves in Houston?

William said...

Hello Tedo,

I have enjoyed reading through your blog posts. Do you have an email address where I could contact you regarding reciprocal links?

Cheers,

William

Barleyvine said...

Air,
It's readily available in Houston right now.

William,
Contact me at ted.duchesne@gmail.com

SirRon said...

@tedo
I opened my bottle at the end of last week. Really great beer. Totally agree on the strong A grade.