Here's a little secret. Most people who visit Cooperstown think that the biggest attraction in town is the baseball museum. I know better. If you take the not-so-beaten path from town center, and with a little bit of luck, you'll find the Ommegang brewery. I was there a few years ago, and if ever a slice of Belgium was dropped out of the sky into the United States, this is it. There are other breweries in this country producing credible Belgian style ales, Allagash comes to mind directly. But Ommegang is the total package, great Belgian style beers brewed in an impressive Belgian looking brewery.

This should come as no surprise. The Ommegang brewery was established by collaboration between Belgian beer exporting company Vanberg & Dewulf principals (and husband and wife team) Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield with Belgian brewers Affligem, Dubuisson, and Moortgat. The beer itself is named for an ancient festival that takes place in Brussels, Belgium each July and has been doing so for half a millennium.

The brewery itself is well worth a trip to Cooperstown. Set in the countryside of New York State in an area once famous for its hop harvests, Ommegang’s beautiful brewery is so European looking with its elegant curves and soaring arches you’ll swear you’re in the heart of Flanders. Inside, the facility is equally impressive, with sparkling brewing equipment set against shining tile and pristine white walls. The fermentation area is closed off to protect against infection, and the friendly staff are more than happy to give you a tour of the entire facility.

For this review I'm sampling a bottle of Ommegang that has about a year of age on it. The beer is aged under controlled conditions in the brewery, but I like to put a little more time on it whenever possible. I slowly pour the beer from the 750ml bottle into my bowl-shaped Ommegang glass bought at the brewery, and watch the ruby colored liquid produce a soft cauliflower head.

The nose is a little pruney. There's a touch of that in the palate too. Some chocolate notes are also present, as well as a hint of licorice (I seem to recall star anise being one of the spices used in this beer). There’s also lots of rich sweetish malt. Warm alcohol sensations stimulate the tongue in the finish; this beer weighs in at 8.5 percent by volume. The finish also leans towards sweetness, with the alcohol leaving a warm sensation in your mouth. This beer would go great with a bowl of mussels and a plate of Belgian frites dipped in spiced mayonnaise. Or just sip a bottle quietly as a nightcap. Either way, a truly spectacular beer.

Ommegang is a great value too, generally running about $4 to $5 for a wine-sized 750ml bottle. Imagine getting an incredibly complex, world-class wine for $5 and you'll see my point.

As a special heads-up, be on the lookout for a special edition of Cave Ommegang to be released sometime next year. The brewery has already produced a cave-aged version of its Hennepin beer this past winter season, and owner Don Feinberg feels the final beer was a bit better than his brewery-aged bottles. I am not so sure underground aging is something that will dramatically affect a beer, but this will be worth checking out if only for the romanticism involved, caves being the original aging areas for beer before the advent of refrigeration and climate control.



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