Tonight's beer: Ommegang XV
Dark dried/candied fruits—plums, cherries, grapes, figs—smeared all over dark-toasty bread. Caramel, nuts, toffee merged in right behind, with dark baking spices (mainly cloves, allspice, cinnamon), a dollop of dark chocolate, and earthy-grassy-peaty bitternesse. Hints of smoke and tobacco. A vague and soft dark tartness emerves toward the end, as the beer dries out some from what is a pretty sweet beginning. Rum, brandy, and maybe some other dark spirits in the far distance.
A bit thicker than medium-bodied, nicely carbonated, distinctly smooth and almost rounded feeling. A little soft chewiness, a bit sticky; gently drying and almost refreshing. Practically no warning of the 9.6% ABV payload.
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| Ommegang XV |
Dark dried/candied fruits—plums, cherries, grapes, figs—smeared all over dark-toasty bread. Caramel, nuts, toffee merged in right behind, with dark baking spices (mainly cloves, allspice, cinnamon), a dollop of dark chocolate, and earthy-grassy-peaty bitternesse. Hints of smoke and tobacco. A vague and soft dark tartness emerves toward the end, as the beer dries out some from what is a pretty sweet beginning. Rum, brandy, and maybe some other dark spirits in the far distance.
A bit thicker than medium-bodied, nicely carbonated, distinctly smooth and almost rounded feeling. A little soft chewiness, a bit sticky; gently drying and almost refreshing. Practically no warning of the 9.6% ABV payload.
Egad. This is an astonishing piece of brewing, it is it is. Tons of flavor, here, some of which may well be (probably is) from the year or so or maybe more it spent in the bottle: aging beers changes beers. Lots going on, here: complexity for days, intense enough to support all that and grab your attention by the short-and-curlies and not. let. go. Marvelously well-integrated and balanced, a beer that doesn't put a foot wrong. Deliriously drinkable, a pretty spot-on quadrupel. Definitely a wonderful anniversary beer (both for Ommegang, and for Sara and me) delicious from start to finish.
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