What visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame would be complete without at least one stop along the way for the Moms? I presume that is why the fine founders of Ommegang Brewery placed it a mere 4 miles away. So after looking for hours at the history of baseball with my 3 men and one slightly interested other female, we made our way to what I billed as my salvation for a morning’s work. We started out at 4:30 that morning from Scituate, MA, so that we would arrive at The Hall right as it opened at 9, so by the time we walked out 4 or 9 hours later (who could tell the difference?) it was definitely time to re-fuel.
“We’re starving!!” they chanted from the backseat, as Google took up just a bit out of way (“google-bombed again), and a closed bridge prevented our crossing, adding to the time spent heading to our “lunch stop.”
“We’re almost there!” I sang out cheerily, knowing full well that fondue and frites weren’t going to be the highlight of their Hall of Fame weekend. I figured I could pass them off as French fries and fancy sausage, and everyone would be just fine. And since this was a vacation, during a long school-and-work-free Veteran’s Weekend, I was okay with vacationing from my usual low-cal drinking and eating habits as well.
We chose to visit Ommegang not only because it was in the same town as The Hall of Fame, but also because we had one of their beers at one of our local bars, The Tinkers Son. And our favorite liquor store stocks several of their beers. I figured the traditional Belgian beers would be worth the visit.
When we walked in, we were so tempted to go right to the tasting room, but the three little stomachs needed sustenance first. So we sat down at a table in their café (which thankfully was really a bar, just aptly named so parents wouldn’t feel guilty about being there.)
It was very family friendly, however – the large social tables meant for co-mingling of parties were just the thing to interest the children while we perused the beer menus. (“Why do we have to SHARE a table with those people?”) Well, maybe they weren’t ready to go European with us, but at least it occupied them while we checked out the multi-page menu.
Multi pages means many beers. We were pretty happy. I was a little disappointed that their October-November seasonal beers weren’t out yet because they hadn’t finished off their summer seasonals. So even though it wasn’t on the menu, and I didn’t read about it, I ordered the Aphrodite.
It wasn’t your typical summer beer. It actually tasted a bit more like wine, with lots and lots of fruit – and even had a pinkish color to it. I must admit I was not prepared for its taste on the first sip, so it took me by surprise. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first. But then the carbonation showed itself, and I decided it tasted more like a champagne beer, than a wine beer. And lo and behold, this is how it is described on their website. I gave this beer a 7 out of 10. I can see the skill and complexity that goes into brewing it, but it’s just not my cup of tea.
Since the kids were fabulously enjoying their bread with cheese (never say fondue and baguette), we figured we were safe to order another beer. I chose a flight of their “darker” beers: Abbey Ale, Rare Vos and Hennepin Farmhouse Saisson. I was really reaching for dark beers since they told me the Chocolate Indulgence, another fall/winter selection was not yet out. I actually grabbed the waiter after he delivered a dark looking beer to “that guy over there” and asked for that in my flight.
And here were my tasting notes on those:
Ommegang Abbey Ale: Dark and caramel colored, with a full, malty taste. It was an easy drinking beer, and went down quite smoothly. This was the one I had pointed to across the room; picked it out by just the color, and I was not disappointed. It wasn’t a chocolatey, stouty dark beer – but another of my favorite varieties: tasty. I would definitely order this one around here when I see it. 8.5 points
Rare Vos: Medium in color, amber-like. Its flavor consisted of some citrus, some malt. I liked that it was a full-bodied, thick ale going down. I was on a roll now, with every beer I tasted after the Aphrodite pleasing me more and more. 8.0 points
Hennepin Farmhouse Saisson: Citrusy and light for one of my dark beers, but I can’t complain because I did like it. It was a little sweet, fairly hoppy and I was sorry when the tasting glass was empty. At least we had plans for more.7.5 points
After these tastings, we headed to the tasting room for an actual “tasting”. Well, really we just tacked ourselves onto the end of a tour and slid right in with our glasses. We couldn’t after all take our kids through the whole tour of the brewery and THEN have them wait while we partake in the tasting too – Nah, that would be too distasteful. And the tour guides and bartenders were so very hospitable to our plight that it would have been offensive to turn their graciousness down when they passed us the very cute Ommegang tasting glasses. We were in.
And as luck would have it (sarcasm), it was snowing on this early November day. Lucky only because the kids decided to go outside the glass doors of the tasting room and have snowball fights. They busied themselves quite selflessly for us…and all we had to do was overlook the brutal beatings of the smaller brother by the much larger and more snow-equipped brother.
I must admit we acted like we didn’t know them half of the time, listening intently toKyle Edwards and Gulab Singh, the very knowledgeable tour guides, as they poured our beers and enlightened us about star anise, licorice root and celiaand cascade hops. Sometimes, if we listened hard enough, we could hear muffled cries and snowy thumps outside. Hmmm, could have been the cows and the next tour though…
So we enjoyed, alone, 6 more beers: some were repeats. Some were different. Three Philosophers, Witte and Belgian Pale Ale were the new ones for me.
Witte: Pretty light, nondescript-type beer. Compared to the other dark beers I had tasted with lunch, this one tasted watered down. I am sure it has its place on a summer day – which did I mention this was not? The snowmen being built outside the windows reminded us of that. Not to mention the ice princes and princess that were target practicing at each other and the doors. 7.0 points
Belgian Pale Ale: Fairly bitter, definitely tasted the hops. Medium in body and color. It was a nice pour with a frothy head to it, and like many of the others, this beer went down quite smoothly. I can taste different layers to it, like fruit and spice. Again this is a beer I would pick up on a warmer, less blizzard-like day. 7.0 points
Three Philosophers:This was the climax of the pours – the final and most anticipated. Well maybe just by me, with the high alcohol content and all. Though I did feel a certain mob crescendo as the tour guide got to this beer. We all edged a little closer; I a little farther from the picture windows. My tasting notes:
Strongale combined with a cherry lambic. That’s what I wrote. Sounds so academic. It tasted good too. I could definitely pick out the fruit, though I wasn’t sure it was cherry. Guess my pallet isn’t as mature as my note-taking skills. The lambic gave it more complexity and fun – these guys certainly knew how to do that. 9.5 points
And when the tasting was complete, and we felt that we couldn’t sneak ourselves onto the next one as well, we rounded up our snowbunnies outside and headed back to our hotel. We did stop at the Gift Shop to buy a pint glass and sticker to remind us of our visit. And hoped that maybe we’d be fortunate enough to pour one of these beers in our basement bar sometime soon. This spot was definitely worth the Hall of Fame diversion, for Mom, Dad – and kids alike. And it also motivated me to establish a monthly fondue night at our house, just like we did at mine in the ‘70’s. The kids are thrilled. (Sarcasm)
Drink Well!
Jen Kearney Harris
Scituate, MA
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Good bye, sweet chum