Ommegang Hennepin | From the fine folks at Corks Wine and Spirits

Howdy fellow snobs,

I’ll be the first to admit, it’s been WAY to long since we’ve done a genuine beer snob post on here. However, tonight is the night! On deck this evening we have Ommegang Hennepin. Now, I’m not all too familiar with Ommegang and when it comes to saison’s, I’m still a novice but the best way to learn is to try and then try again. This particular brew came from the new Corks Wine and Spirits over by the fancy new Publix out in Turkey Creek. We met up with Ryan Megar this week to check out the new place and talk beer for a bit. First off, Corks doesn’t feel like your normal liquor store with it’s open floorplan, pretty slick looking concrete floors and reclaimed barn wood constructing the cashier’s desk right in the center. While they’re only about a month old, they are working hard to bring in good beer, so be sure to stop in from time to time.

Back to the beer, while we were perusing the selection Ryan stated that if God came to earth and brewed a beer, it’d be Hennepin – uh, sold! My natural tendency is to shift more towards the darker and/or hoppier brews but I do know there’s more to beer than that, so here I sit with my nose in the glass sucking in the scents of banana, orange, and honey. (The Mrs. says mango too but let’s not frou-frou this beer up just yet.) Now, as you can see in the pic, this is an unfiltered beer and when you’re not paying attention to what you’re doing, you’ll get a three finger head as pictured. Also note it’s bottle conditioned so don’t pour too hard unless you like yeast.

This beer hits the tongue with a great sweetness and lingers softly as the hops begin to come through finishing with a bitter lingering that makes you thirsty for the next sip. At 7.7% ABV you don’t have to hold back too much. This is actually a very good beer and would be great on a hot summer’s night or for Sunday brunch. Actually, I’ve been talking about doing beer and waffles for some time after visiting the Cafe Hollander in Milwaukee a year or so ago, this may be my waffle beer.

As for the name, well, according to the bottle Father Hennepin was the Belgian Missionary who discovered Niagara Falls. This beer pays homage to that discovery.

Final Snobs: If you’re looking for a nice saison or just something a little different, give this a shot. Thumbs up from this beer snob.

Cheers!