Rare Vos Amber Ale brewed by Brewery Ommegang - Cooperstown, New York

Named after a Brussels bar made famous as the starting point for bicycle and pigeon races, our Rare Vos Amber Ale is also a great place to begin your virtual taste test. As you pour, you’ll notice the beautiful coppery-amber color and the rich creamy head. Lift the glass to your mouth and enjoy the aroma of spicy orange blossoms. Taste, and the pleasant mellow flavor of caramel malt glides easily into a dry, hop finish. Once you’ve finished, start again (after all, this isn’t a race). Intended for the café as well as the dinner table, Rare Vos is an amber ale of medium color and strength. It sports aromas and flavors of caramel, orange, hops, plus an elusive fruity-yeasty flavor which will have you tasting in circles.
           

Beer Review by Beer Advocate
Presentation: 750ML Magnum Euro-style bottle with champagne cork and wire crown. Label notes: Beer is "Gauaranteed to be cellared at the brewery." Rare Vos is Flemish for "Sly Fox," which is a café in Brussels.

Appearance: Hazy amber with a very active carbonation. Head is near perfect, off-white, creamy, clingy and stays. Very appealing to look at. Loads of settled yeast at the bottom of the bottle.

Smell: Malt and grainy notes, a bit alcohol fruity, grape-like, with a dominant soft, sweet clove aroma.

Taste: Full bodied, malty sweet and with a spicy, yeast mouth. A bit peppery with a pleasant grassy dryness. Hop flavours are subtle, tea-like, and mingle with the grass flavours. Some dextrin sweetness as the beer warms. Finishes a bit dry with yeast flavours and semi-oily coating on the tongue.

Notes: A top fermented, bottle conditioned, Brabant Ale. Absolutey amazingly delicious! You almost forget you are not in Belgium, and for $4.50 a bottle it's a cheap imaginary trip to Belgium, for the taste buds and soul.
 

                                                                      
Brewery Ommegang
Ommegang began brewing Belgian-style ales in 1997. Built by Don Feinberg, an aficionado of Belgian beers, it started up in a purpose-built building based on a traditional Belgian farmhouse, set on a former 136 acre hop farm in the Susqehanna River Valley, four miles south of Cooperstown, New York in the Town of Middlefield.
Since its opening, Ommegang has grown rapidly — in early 2005, its owner said they have been unable to meet demand for their ales and as a result would add 40 percent to their production capacity over the next year.
    
 
  
Don Feinberg sold Ommegang in 2003 to Belgian brewer Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, brewers of the world-renowned Duvel Golden Ale. As a result, Ommegang Ales are made both in Belgium and in Cooperstown, New York. It should be noted that Duvel Moortgat brewed limited amounts of beer for Brewery Ommegang in 2006 to help meet demand, but has not brewed any since then.

Each summer, the brewery hosts a large beer-tasting event, known as Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. The event, which occurs on a Saturday in July, includes four hours of unlimited beer sampling of over 200 Belgian and Belgian-style beers, followed by food, live music, and a bonfire. The 2007 version of the event added a Friday night beer dinner for 250 people, with 7 courses and 14 beers to pair with them.