Rare Vos - Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown

I had high expectations for Ommegang's Rare Vos. All I've ever heard about this brewery is that they produce stellar beers that are true to the Belgian originals. So when I picked up this bottle of Rare Vos I was expecting it to be the next best thing to setting foot in Brussels. Perhaps I was setting this beer up for failure, I mean, it'd have to be really good to live up to my expectations. But, that's how the stage was set - with me expecting a perfect beer as I popped the cork on this bottle and poured it into my tulip glass. I do have to say, my first impressions weren't so great. For starters, I couldn't get a read on this beer's aroma. It had a special sort of spiciness that I couldn't identify. Not that that was a bad thing, I enjoy a good challenge... the problem was what I didn't smell at all. Where was the sour, where was the corriander, the citrus and all those other telltale aromas that define a Belgian beer? I couldn't find them and considered it 'strike one' for the Rare Vos.

While the smell of a beer is important to me, it ultimately doesn't have a whole lot of baring on the actual taste of a beer for me. So, moving on to the Rare Vos' flavor profile... I took a few quick sips of this Belgian style Amber and was instantly able to pick up on the sour, the warmth and the spice. These three redeeming qualities were very welcome sights tastes. I was surprised how complex the flavor of the Rare Vos was given how light the body was. In fact, the beer tastes a little watery. This isn't a total draw back for me, even though the body is quite light there is still a lot of flavor to this beer. After drinking a few glasses I'm still unable to put my finger on what spice(s) have flavored this beer. It's not terribly strong, but it's quite noticeable.

When this beer is chilled the sourness of the yeast comes through much more than when it gets closer to room temperature, perhaps this has something to do with my inability to smell all those elements I was expecting to pick up on. In either regard, the flavor of this beer is its redeeming quality. The light body is a bit of a let down but the flavor doesn't seem to suffer at all. The flavors in the Rare Vos are balanced really well, unlike some "Belgian stlye" American beers which are in a hurry to let you know how sour they can be (i.e. taking a page out of the IPA's playbook).