On Tap at Stout NYC
Normally when I drink beers containing strong chocolate notes (as I expected this one to), they are stouts or imperial stouts, as chocolate flavor meshes incredibly well with the other usual flavors of the style: vanilla, coffee, smoke, and whiskey, just to name a few. This, on the other hand, was a Belgian dark ale. Brewery Ommegang is known for doing quite a bit of experimenting with unconventional pairings, some of which really work and others of which fall flat.
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence pours a very dark chocolate color with a one and a half finger dark khaki head that quickly diminishes into a think lacing. Very faint chocolate scent, not what I was expecting here, with a bit of floral and spice scent that very unexpectedly outshine the chocolate. On first sip you get a nice strong cinnamon taste (a couple of other spice elements at work here as well, maybe a hint of cayenne and clove), a nice warmness to it, which slightly overpowers the minorly less strong chocolate flavor. Very nice combination, especially when it works with some of the minor notes playing around here: namely a bit of vanilla and caramel, and strangely enough I got a little coffee and banana here as well. The vanilla, caramel, and coffee are to be expected in chocolate beers, but the banana was strange, though it definitely worked well in combination with the rest of the flavors. Nicely balanced, and hides the 7% ABV well.
Overall a good beer, nice chocolate flavor, and definitely not a letdown from Ommegang brewery. My biggest problem with the beer was that everything about it was just good (if that's even a legitimate problem).
Still waiting on them to create a beer that I like more than their Three Philosophers.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Normally when I drink beers containing strong chocolate notes (as I expected this one to), they are stouts or imperial stouts, as chocolate flavor meshes incredibly well with the other usual flavors of the style: vanilla, coffee, smoke, and whiskey, just to name a few. This, on the other hand, was a Belgian dark ale. Brewery Ommegang is known for doing quite a bit of experimenting with unconventional pairings, some of which really work and others of which fall flat.
Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence pours a very dark chocolate color with a one and a half finger dark khaki head that quickly diminishes into a think lacing. Very faint chocolate scent, not what I was expecting here, with a bit of floral and spice scent that very unexpectedly outshine the chocolate. On first sip you get a nice strong cinnamon taste (a couple of other spice elements at work here as well, maybe a hint of cayenne and clove), a nice warmness to it, which slightly overpowers the minorly less strong chocolate flavor. Very nice combination, especially when it works with some of the minor notes playing around here: namely a bit of vanilla and caramel, and strangely enough I got a little coffee and banana here as well. The vanilla, caramel, and coffee are to be expected in chocolate beers, but the banana was strange, though it definitely worked well in combination with the rest of the flavors. Nicely balanced, and hides the 7% ABV well.
Overall a good beer, nice chocolate flavor, and definitely not a letdown from Ommegang brewery. My biggest problem with the beer was that everything about it was just good (if that's even a legitimate problem).
Still waiting on them to create a beer that I like more than their Three Philosophers.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
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