The brewery was the co-winner in the first ever Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge held in May in New York City. Duvel is, after years of declining sales, seeing the disconnect between what the brand is and what drinkers want. ommegang brewhouse Ommegangs past specialty bottled releases were too niche, Gershon says, adding they fit who we believed the brand was.. ), and the practice of using a second fermentation, sometimes in the bottle, after the intiial fermentation is complete. So theres an element ofwhat the brewery brand stands for, to what extent should that be tied to a specific style of beer?. ommegang townsend ommegang 27th brewery wednesday Whats the connection with Belgium? For a while there in the 17th century, New York State was part of a territory known as Nova Belgica, which sounds like a song by Bjork that wed hate but just means New Belgium. And while Belgium itself is at a more northerly latitude than New York, the climates arent dissimilar, so it seemed like the right place to brew beer in the tradition of Belgian styles (which are multifaceted and deliciously hard to categorize). For its 20th anniversary, Ommegang has made a limited amount of what it calls "a luxurious Belgian-style dark ale." Granted, Ommegang has historically also relied heavily on sales in independent bottle shops not tracked by IRI, but even measured against previous sales in chain stores, sales overall have declined each year since 2015. Now that hes left Ommegang, Campbell says the brewerys next chapter is not for him to write, but acknowledges its focus will likely have to expand beyond the Belgian parameters that have set its course for over two decades. Photo: Brewer Phil Leinhart opens a bottle of Ommegang 20th Anniversary Ale, which is sealed with the traditional cork-and-cage top, instread of a cap. syracuse firestone duvel brewer merge ommegang The recent departures of high-level employees at Ommegang make the next six months an appropriate time for a shift in both branding and brewing, as new perspectives can potentially take hold. I dont think [Ommegang] was as provenance-driven as some of the other craft brands that started and put other roots down, but hindsights 2020, Gershon says. But thats a big part of our strategy moving forward.. Ommegang Adoration Strong Winter Ale: 10% ABV, spiced, dark and malty. Toward the end of the 2010s, the brewery also bowed to the craft beer geeky masses and began rolling out a short list of IPAs. seward totals breweries economic Were all sitting here saying probably. But theres no time like the present to change your future, says Natalie Gershon, vice president of marketing at Boulevard Brewing and Duvel USA. Those beers were then blended and bottled. That was our ideal. But will that be enough to get the company back to growth? seward totals breweries economic The question that will make or break Ommegang in the coming years is not just what it brews, but where it plants its flag. Other recent new beers include Rosetta, a sour cherry-infused ale; Fruition, a wit beer with added fruit; and Pale Sour, a puckering blonde ale. The course included a hairpin turn inside the main event tent. barrier ommegang belgian relief brewing sandy ipa hurricane aids This beer owes more to English brewing traditions than Belgian. Now a seasonal offering), Ommegang Duvel Rustica (Belgian-style Golden ale collaboration with Duvel Moortgat, 8.5%), Ommegang XV (Belgian-style Trappist ale brewed to celebrate Ommegang's Fifteenth anniversary. brewed newyorkupstate whelan midway kiddie ommegang cooperstown Photo: This picture, taken in 2006 in the Brewery Ommegang tasting room, shows two of its beers, Hennepin and Abbey Ale, with their original but since redesigned bottle labels. Engineering Project Manager- 4840 - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 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Michelle for Southern Peach Flavor, Preiss Imports Adds Ferdinands Saar Collection to its International Spirits Portfolio, Humboldt Distillery Expands to Markets Outside of California. Easy, familiar flavors are. Currently theyre doing Dry and Ros styles, both of which are filtered and carbonated meaning even if the slightly dryer style is more European, the final product is also close enough to the mass-market-appeal of an easy-drinking American cider like Angry Orchard. Just the news that interests us. Nov 2013. Duvel Moortgat brewed limited amounts of beer for Brewery Ommegang in 2006 to help meet demand, but has not brewed any since then. We still aim for a little more of a high-end market than many brewers. 12 U.S. breweries where "the views match the beer. If youre looking for a beer to impress your friends, pair with charcuterie, or challenge your ability to contemplate both the dizzying effects of high alcohol by volume (ABV) and the subtle mechanics of spice and carbonation, look no further than Brewery Ommegang. Theyve helped staunch losses from Ommegangs core group of Belgian beers, which are no longer in fashion in a market dominated by IPA, but overall sales of Ommegang beers in grocery, convenience, liquor and other chains have still been declining for years. Given that Ommegang is located on an idyllic, 140-acre farm in Cooperstown, theres plenty of literal land to welcome visitors and deepen a place-based identityif tourists will come. He is now managing partner at Craft Beverage Consultants (CBC), which provides strategic consulting to breweries, wineries, and distilleries. At Ommegang, it should be noted, the first fermentation is in an open (unenclosed) vessel, which is traditional but not often used in the United States. From a January 1998 Syracuse Post-Standard report on the brewerys opening: Even a taste straight out of the cellaring tank -- some weeks before the first batch was ready to ship -- offered hints of the aromas and fruitiness to come.. Thiel, who left Ommegang in 2008, becamebecame the first American brewer ever inducted. And its building design -- right down to its signature welcoming archway -- was meant to mimic a traditional Belgian farm brewery. Not much more to it, yet. It would focus on Belgian ales. For visitors, one of the most noticeable improvements in recent years has been the 75-seat cafe and bar. For one of the best bottle-conditioned Belgian-style ale this side of the Atlantic, check out Brewery Ommegang. This beer will be sold in 4-packs of 12-ounce bottles and on tap for the late fall and winter months. And all are relatively new: Brut IPA launched nationally in November 2018; Neon Rainbows debuted in late 2018 as a limited release before going year-round this year; and Hopstate saw regional distribution across the eastern U.S. for the first time in 2019. Not that its all high-ABV: Its roster of offerings combines Belgian styles and its own fresh innovations, including a lighter-style, easy-drinking, lower-ABV beer, the orange peel- and coriander-spiced Witte (witbier) originally released in 2004, which clocks in at 5.2 percent ABV. Brewery Ommegang is situated in a pretty bucolic little spot near the banks of the Susquehanna River. Ommegang has joined the hot craft brew trend toward aging beers in whiskey barrels and others casks. In all, Ommegang produces about 15 to 18 different beers each year, Leinhart says. Fret not, even the pilsner aspires to that Je ne sais quoi Franco-Belgian European complexity its unfiltered, made with Czech floor-malted barley, and, in our minds, probably blessed by the European roommate from Its Always Sunny.. Unfortunately, you cant marry Ommegang, but you can get married at Ommegang. But theres a good chance those drinkers will stick with the beer styles they like, and not necessarily make the leap to Quadrupels or Witbiers. mybeerbuzz dubbel ommegang In 2016, Brewery Ommegang was named the World Champion "mid-sized brewery" in the World Beer Cup held in conjunction with the Craft Brewers Conference in Washington, D.C. thrones game ommegang brewery releases beer second stout take Cyclocross is popular in Belgium and a cyclocross race on the grounds of a Belgian-style brewery was a natural fit. Ommegang Aphrodite Tart beer (Belgian-style ale), Ommegang Belgian Independence Day Saison (Belgian-style saison 7.0%), Ommegang Seduction (Belgian-style stout blended with Kriek, 6.8%), Ommegang Biere d' Hougoumont (Biere de Garde aged on White Oak and Maple wooden staves, 7.3%), Ommegang Belgian Independence Day Tripel (8.3%), Ommegang Scythe & Sickle (Harvest ale, 5.8%. (Ommegang sales representatives, taproom managers and staff, events staff, and other brewing staff remain in Cooperstown.) I never talked to or heard my distributor counterparts talking about an Ommegang sales rep.. We still have one foot in Belgium and one foot in the States, said Doug Campbell, the companys president and general manager. philosophers three ommegang aged barrel bottles coming Ommegang Ale 2009 (Belgian-style stout blended with kriek, 6.2), Ommegang BPA (since elevated to year-round sales), Ommegang Zuur (a Flanders Brown Ale, brewed in collaboration with Liefmans of Belgium), Ommegang Tripel Perfection (a Belgian-style tripel, but with spices), Ommegang Cup O' Kyndnes (a Belgian-Scotch ale, brewed with smoked malt and heather flowers), Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence (Belgian-Style Stout, 7% ABV). The final beer, an imperial brown ale called, super pun-style, My Watch Has Ended (since, if you think about it, your watch(ing) of GoT has also ended). If Brewery Ommegang seems older (or more Belgian) than it is, thats because the brewery did a very good job at making itself seem ancient and Belgian when it was founded in 1997 by Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield in Cooperstown, N.Y. Littlefield and Feinberg also founded a New York-based Belgian beer import business, Vanberg and DeWulf, in 1982. The vision for Contra is not tied to the tenets of Ommegang, Gershon says, noting that she doesnt rule out further beers under the Contra sub-brand in the future. pipeworks pairing ommegang map star brewing And canceled events at Cooperstowns Baseball Hall of Fame cant be helping. But I dont think it worked as well as we wanted to.. There was an opportunity to sell a lot of beer and hopefully convert consumers, she says. No one who listens to or reads Good Beer Hunting needs to be told that Belgian brewing is not the hot thing these days, he says. It's set on a pre-Prohibition hop field, surrounded by rolling hills. Brewery Ommeganghas been a frequent winner of national and New York state awards, including its most recent -- a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Fest in Demnver for its Witte in the Belgian style Wit (Wheat) Beer category. Launched in 2019 and called, aptly, Project Cider, Brewery Ommegang has been making two varieties of canned cider by combining the rugged character of local New York State apples with the magic of Belgian yeast. Now the brewery says its breaking out. But integrationespecially salesforce integration following Duvel USAs purchase of Boulevard and Firestone Walkermight have its challenges.