About Ommegang Rare Vos Amber Ale: Rare Vos Amber Ale is styled after the smooth, drinkable beers popular in Belgian cafés. It pours a light copper hue, contrasting beautifully with a big, creamy white head. The nose offers orange blossoms and slight spice. On the palate, the caramel maltiness shines strongly but with little sweetness. The profile leans toward dry fruity (yeast-affiliated), slightly fruity/hoppy with a beguiling spiciness. This complex, medium-bodied beer has a smooth mid-palate and moderate dry finish. Well-balanced in all elements, it's a mild, mellow brew. Brewed in Cooperstown, NY.
Food Pairing: Rare Vos has earned its spot as one of the most food friendly of all of Brewery Ommegang's ales. Its aromatics of citrus and caramel lead the culinary minded to pair it with cheese of all styles or even a rich fig bread pudding. The ale's flavor profile has a pleasant booziness to it and mild acidity and hops. This combination lends itself to be paired with a rich black truffle and lobster risotto or pork belly and mustard greens. Add it to chili, jambalaya or gumbo to give your dish a pleasant bitterness and roastiness.
Pour: Pour slowly so as to not disturb the yeast, but with enough vigor to create a luxurious head and release the rich bouquet.
Beer Advocate Score: 91 points
Malts: Pilsner, auroma, caramel
Hops: Styrian Golding
Spices: Coriander, sweet orange peel, grains of paradise
OG: 14.2o Plato
FG: 2.5o Plato
IBU: 21
Alcohol by Volume: 6.5%
Case Cost: $55
*website: www.ommegang.com/#!beer_vos
I thoroughly enjoyed this beer. Was it me or was this a dead ringer for Fuller's ESB? This thing has amazing head. It's only day 3, but this is the leader in the clubhouse
ReplyDeleteFinally an Ale and wow my head exploded over the top of the glass making a mess everywhere. Definitely the best of the bunch. I could not discern the caramel it talked about but then again I didnt have lobster or fig bread. I did have a salad with blue cheese in it but I couldn't say it made it any better. The worst part is that I ate my last truffle last night with that stupid lager. DRAT! I knew I should have saved it for tonight's beer. This beer reminded me of some of the Belgian white ales or wheat ales.
ReplyDeleteRating 7
This one was a winner in my book. Full of frothy belgian yeastiness. Not sure my palate is refined enough to detect the spices, but I loved the flavor. I tried to follow the pouring instructions and got a giant frothy head on it. Saw some bits floating around in the bottom of the bottle, so I left about half an inch of beer in there while I drank the rest. By the time I poured the last little bit, I couldn't see anything floating around any more. Does that mean I didn't do it right? Are you supposed to leave some in the bottle and not drink it? That just seems wrong to me :-) I would buy this beer again, and I'd love to try it on draft.
ReplyDeleteThat's yeast. It will make definitely change the taste, but I can't ever handle leaving 0.04% of my beer just because it gets a bit yeasty so I pour it in unless it's nothing but yeast coming out at the end.
DeleteGreat beer and I enjoyed this a lot. It reminded me of Blue Moon but better. I didn't have any of the food pairings mentioned above but it went great as I waited for the spagehtti to finish cooking. I would drink a lot of these given the chance. 9 out of 10
ReplyDeleteMeh... going to be contrary on this one. I thought it was boring and flat, but that might have been my fault since I waited until the head settled down some. There wasn't anything really wrong but it didn't leave a strong impression with me. Had better Belgians before. B-
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I've never had an Ommegang I didn't like and this was no exception. Man this was awesome. Awesome enough so that I'm tempted to go buy more right now. Ro and I tried to define the beguiling spiciness and weren't sure. I think it was the birds of paradise but like Joe, I did not have any figgy pudding to pair it with. And I'm fresh out of my truffle risotto as well. So, top of the list and it's going to take an impressive brew to unseat this one.
ReplyDeleteThere is something great about pouring a production beer that still has yeast in the bottom of the bottle. Very nice. This has a nice balance of citrus and hoppiness.
ReplyDeleteThis one doesn't even merit a "Meh" in my book. Maybe if Ommegang hadn't called this an "Amber Ale" I wouldn't have been so offended by the wheatiness of it. Sure, sure -- I could have read Tony's write-up before throwing back a big swig, but what's the fun in that?!? Dirty-sock version of a Blue Moon, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteTotally not a wheat beer at all!
DeleteThis to me is one great beer. I first had this on tap at Chef Geoff's about 2 months ago. I loved it then and I love it now. When drinking it tonight I didn't think too much about trying to rate it...I just sat back and enjoyed it. This isn't a beer I would want when going out drinking mass quantities. This is one I want to drink 2 or 3 of with a good dinner. 9 out of 10, solid A
ReplyDeleteUgh. As soon as I saw "Belgian" in the name I figured it would not be for me... and it wasn't. Not as offensive as some other Belgians (I liked the spicy banana aroma), but still not worth pairing with in a World War. And Justin kept making Winkelvoss jokes. On to tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteLike every other Belgian beer I've had before, me likey. Definitely tastes and smells like Blue Moon. This is one that Tony and I wish we weren't sharing, but had our own. Check plus!
ReplyDeleteIf you like Belgian beers then Ommegang is for you. They have an amazing line up and use their own belgian yeast strain. All of their beers have the coriander, orange peel, and grains of paridise...that combined with the belgian yeast is kind of their thing. This is definitely not a wheat beer (their wheat is amazing by the way) it is the belgian funk and the 3 other additions that make you think of belgian wheat beers.
ReplyDeleteRating time...I liked it so much that I actually added this to my draft lineup about 8 months ago...I get to drink it every day if I want to ;)
Wow - this is a great beer. A balanced AND interesting brew is highly underrated in my opinion, and this is a FINE example of that art, for me. Great choice. I had a sampler case from these guys 2 or 3 years ago and remember enjoying them all. I would definitely go for some more of that one!
ReplyDeleteI have had some of Ommegangs stronger offerings, but this might be my favorite. Yeast, spices and alcohol were all well balanced. Maybe I need to frequent more Belgian cafes, or at least a few in Cooperstown, NY. Earns an A.
ReplyDeleteI'm off the DL and just in time. I'm a big fan of Ommegang and this meets my expectations. This is how you do a Belgian with great aroma and just enough hop. A solid B+ in my world.
ReplyDeleteI had to travel out of town today so was not able to enjoy this beer yet. Based on the comments I can't wait to have it when I get back home tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI thought this evening's selection was delightful, both to the eye and to the palate. I'm generally more of a dark beer drinker, but I'd enjoy this again and again (and again). Rare Vos, like Natalie Voss, is worth driving to Mexico for, at a high rate of speed, and being chased by Henry Rollins. Fortunately, we don't have to go that far. (Did Flea and Anthony Keidis just try to run me off the road?)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this beer, as I have with all of Ommegang's offerings. Being a native upstate New Yorker, Ommegang has a big place in my heart. This is probably the beer I drank the most this summer and fall. It's an excellent, refreshing break from some of the IPAs and DIPAs I normally prefer. Amazing to drink on a patio on a warm summer night or a cool fall evening. The orange peel and coriander are noticeable on the nose and the palate. I almost poured it all over my counter tonight after work because there's so much head. I asked my girlfriend to kindly retrieve it from my fridge and she decided it was a wise idea to wave it around in the air, so I got some extra foam. The yeast was also kicked about inside the bottle, but thankfully I like the yeast and always pour a good amount of it in my glass. All around one of my favorite beers this year. I'm sure I'll have a few more before the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteReally liked this one a lot. Very tasty. I'm not sure I've had anything from Ommegang before, but if the others are as good as this one, I'm looking forward to them.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding! I felt like this tasted like La Fin Du Monde, which is one of my favorites - though this one has less kick in the percentage.
ReplyDeleteehhh... it's alright. Not huge on Belgian beers or creamy heads
ReplyDeleteI returned from my out of town trip and am playing catch up on this beer. It's ok, but I don't think id drink two in a row, a bit too bitter and acidic for me. I give it a b- and rank it my second favorite to date.
ReplyDeleteNever had a ommegang offering before, but it seems like they do good work. Belgium wheats are not my favorite types of beers, but this is one of the better versions I can remember drinking. Still like the DB Vienna lager better, but I'm glad that I'm being introduced to something new.
ReplyDeleteI think out of all the comments I agreed with Tony's the most. Not only did I really enjoy it, I wanted to have 2-3 more. Would be a great beer to have out at a nice dinner - good flavor, consistency, after taste. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat beer nicely balance.... like the spice notes.
ReplyDeleteRating 6.9