Dare To Dream: Three Philosophers

My wife has a problem. Her husband is hopelessly addicted to finding, buying and sampling as many beers as he can find. She’s not a big beer drinker, but has the beers she likes. One style that she’s discovered she likes are Belgian Lambics. This is the reason why I knew I had to get a bottle of Ommegang Three Philosophers, a Belgian dark strong ale blended with kriek.

Three Philosophers has an interesting history. Ratebeer wanted to know what everyone’s dream beer would be, so they held a contest. Eventually, Noel Blake of Portland came up with the idea that is now Three Philosophers. Brewery Ommegang was chosen to brew this dream beer.

So I headed to BevMo and grabbed the lone bottle of Three Philosophers on the shelf. It was a bit beaten and tattered, the label lifting off on the edges. About a week later, i sat down and gave the bottle a once over and noticed the neck had a sticker stating “Brewed 2005.” All the recent reviewers on Ratebeer had mentioned the were drinking 2007 bottles. This got me excited, it’s always nice to find a cellar worthy bottle on a BevMo shelf that’s already been aged for 2 years.

So I chose a Saturday evening to sit down with a movie and this bottle after the baby had gone to sleep. The cork felt like it was glued into the bottle, but with a little persuasion, the corked flew off with a “pop” and ricocheted around the kitchen (not on purpose, I swear). Immediately I noticed the familiar aroma of a Belgian Strong Ale, but there was something else, cherries, very dark and subtle.

I offered the wife a glass and had one for myself. It started out like a red wine with the cherry flavor blened in quite well with an overall complex drink. I felt a little intimidated by this. This was closer to a red wine than a traditional microbrew. My wife didn’t like it. She gave me a sour look and pushed it towards me, signifying she was done. As the beer warmed, the kriek really started to step forward. With the last few sips, the taste of sour cherries really sat on top of the beer. This was a fantastic brew.

Now, if you asked me, I couldn’t create a dream beer. I have a hard time even thinking of a favorite style. Well perhaps I could, but it would change from day to day. I guess this is why homebrewing is such a great hobby. Either way, Brewery Ommegang and Noel did a great job with this one. I do plan on trying a younger bottle and will share my thoughts on that when I get a shot.