I've been complaining a lot about Ommegang lately, and here's an example of why. In a nutshell, the brewery has hopelessly lost their way in terms of moving away from focussing solely on the greatness of their past, and of late producing a bunch of beers that have nothing to do with their Belgian-styled roots, and everything to do with pandering to a dumb marketplace. Given the potential significance of such a milestone beer, you'd think that Ommegang would dip into the huge depth of great...
Notes on beers in the style
Imperial Red Ale
Ommegang
Ridgeway
Imperial Red Ale 2017
Bottle number 4815. Kahn's, Indianapolis, sometime in the latter half of 2022. 330 mL bottle. I have zero expectations here, or at least I'm assuming that it's going to be a dud, and anything and everything above that will be a bonus. Deliberately aggressive pour to generate a head. Not too bad considering age and ABV (see picture). Thin film on the surface results, zero lace. The body is a murky, frankly unattractive brownish-red body. Nose offers a sweet, English Barleywine note, and this...
Shark Attack Double Red Ale
22oz bottle, Arbor Place Beverage, Douglasville, GA, USA. Very typical for the style, a cloudy and turbid brown soup like affair with some big, rocky, pitted, off-white head and lace. Retention is not great. It's a bit of an ugly looking beer for me. Nose and tastes deliver typical big, hoppy alcohol notes, and there is the requisite dry finish. Strangely, the alcohol is fairly well hidden during the drink, but in the aftertaste and at the end the beer packs its' full punch. The combination of...