Ommegang Three Philosophers
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Tasting Notes
The aroma opens with dark dried fruit — cherry, raisin, fig — layered over Belgian yeast notes of clove and light earthiness. On the palate, rich toffee and dark sugar anchor a wave of plum and cherry, a character partly owed to the addition of Liefmans Kriek blended into the recipe. The body is full and warming without being syrupy, with a finish that lingers on dark fruit, mild boozy warmth, and a faint bitter cocoa edge. The relatively high carbonation for a beer of this weight keeps it from feeling heavy.
About the Brewery
Ommegang is based in Cooperstown, New York, and was founded in 1997 with a specific mission to brew Belgian-style ales in the United States. It was among the earliest American craft breweries to commit entirely to Belgian traditions — abbey ales, saisons, witbiers — rather than treating them as a side project. The brewery is majority-owned by Duvel Moortgat, the Belgian brewing group, which has deepened its ties to authentic Belgian technique and ingredients over the years.
Food Pairings
Braised short ribs work well because the beer's dark fruit and malt richness mirror the deep savory-sweet notes of slow-cooked beef. Aged Gouda brings out the caramel and toffee in the malt without fighting the fruit character. A dark chocolate dessert — flourless cake or a good bitter bar — plays off the cocoa finish naturally. Blue cheese is a classic quad companion, the salt and funk providing real contrast to the sweetness. Roasted duck, with its fat and slight gaminess, holds up to the beer's body without being overwhelmed.
Style Guide
Quadrupel, sometimes labeled Quad or Belgian Strong Dark Ale, is a high-gravity abbey-style beer defined by complex dark fruit esters, rich malt sweetness, and warming alcohol — typically falling between 9% and 13% ABV. The style was formalized largely by Dutch brewery La Trappe in the 1990s, though its roots trace to the strong dark ales brewed in Belgian Trappist monasteries for centuries. It differs from a Dubbel in sheer size and intensity, and from a Belgian Strong Dark Ale primarily in that the Quad label implies a direct lineage to the monastic naming convention of increasing strength by designation.