Here’s the plan
Ommegang is a Belgian Style New York brewery capable of occasional magic. I remember them best for taking their own abbey ale, which I find pretty boring, and Lindemans Kriek, which I think tastes like cough syrup, and mixing them into Three Philosophers, which I think is fantastic. I also had their Chocolate Indulgence a couple of years ago when some of the former Taco Macs used it as a chance to get out the fancy glasses, and that was also something pretty special. A biere de garde is a little farther south than Ommegang’s usual styles, but I have high hopes. The twist in the Mars is that it’s bottled with a Belgian wild yeast strain that’s supposed to bring the noise and bring the funk, and that sounds like it might be either wonderful or awful.
The first smell is a big whiff of oats that rushed out behind the cork. Once it made into the glass—orange and clear, all the chunky, cloudy yeasts hanging out in the very bottom—I start to smell the funk, a kind of dull, earthy, musty odor. It’s not unpleasant, but I’m not sure what to make of it. The head is big and plans to stick around, and besides the yeast weirdness smells like oranges and nectar. The musky funk hits a little harder in the taste, leading a wave of citrus and spice. There’s a little floweriness and bitterness from hops, and though the oats from earlier foreshadowed something thicker, Mars feels light and lively, the sweet orange taste cutting through any malty heaviness.
I’m not really sure what to think of this beer. It’s light and tasty, but it has that weird funky chewiness from the yeast that sticks around a little past its welcome. It’s interesting. It’s kind of weird.