Bring on the Funk: Ommegeddon
I’d been sitting on a bottle of Ommegang brewery’s Ommegeddon Funkhouse Ale with Brettanomyces for a while, thinking I should try it with some funky cheeses. Yesterday, Ms. BeerGeek, the new little BeerGeek-in-training and I were in NE Mpls. and got to Surdyk’s. Based on what I’d expected, the monger there actually suggested contrasting cheeses, so we ended up with an aged Gouda and an Irish wash-rind cheese (the later was awesome).
So, I popped the cork on the Ommegeddon expecting something lambic-y and funky as all get out. To the contrary, the beer was pretty mello. It actually reminded me of a Saison more than a lambic. It wasn’t sour at all. Instead, it was dry with a hint of Brett fruity and bitter in the finish. The Brett character as mild, so I suspect the beer was well-attenuated (fermented fully) before the Brett was added. In this hypothesized scenario the Brett would add just a little character and dry the beer completely.
It had a predominant lemon flavor and aroma going on, more peel than juice. Ommegang’s website suggests dry-hopping, so I suspect some of the character is from that.
The website also suggests Ommegeddon’s sold well since its release in June, so you may not find it. If you do, I’d say grad a bottle and try anywhere you’d normally consume a Saison or in place of a dry champagne.
January 23, 2008 at 4:00 pm
This is one of the few beers that the label actually says to cellar it for better enjoyment. Which means they probably just pushed it out to consumers before they really should have, but what’s new.
I didn’t really care for the bottled version of it, draft seemed a bit better developed. Would be interested to have a bottle in another year or so to see if the Brett takes hold or if it just is a flop.