Hennepin (Farmhouse Saison) - Brewery Ommegang

Chico1985

Massachusetts

2.93/5  rDev -29.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12oz to Unibroue tulip, no best by date listed.

Pours a clear golden color with a huge puffy white head, lots of bubbles, highly carbonated it seems. Dusty sediment floats about. Settles at a thick bubbly cap leaving some lacing.

Pale pilsner malts jump from the nose first and foremost. Typical Belgian yeast, some sweet candi sugar, wet grass and lemony hops follow. Just the tiniest hints of funk and hay. The pilsner quality reminds me a little too much of an generic pale Euro lager but the smell really starts to open up nicely after a bit.

Taste has notes of lemon/citrus/grass throughout from the hops, Belgian yeast and some candi sugar. I found the scent to be more enjoyable. Some bready notes in the finish. High alcohol taste dominates (at the finish especially) and is noticeable right from the get-go. Although it does fade over time, it is ever-present giving the beer a bit of a distasteful, soapy medicinal feel. Mouthfeel is not nearly as carbonated as the appearance would hint towards, has a creamy oily feel to it, but the booziness just about kills it.

Kinda reminds me of Duvel in some ways (which makes sense), but I couldn't get into this one much. Feels too boozy and just heavy and uncomfortable when it reaches your guts. Flavors that were present didn't really leave me wanting more.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2010 01:08:17 | More by Chico1985

mwearl

North Carolina

2.95/5  rDev -29.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Poured on tap, this beer was pale with very white creamy head with lacing that lasted through the entire glass. Very sweet smell with champagne-like odors. Taste was watery and sweet with white grape tastes and an odd perfume taste at the finish. Mouthfeel was light and dry and little aftertaste. I will say that it is very well balanced with the higher ABV. Drinkability was ok for a hot day beer, but not at the top of my list.

Serving type: on-tap

05-28-2007 21:35:05 | More by mwearl

rastaman

United Kingdom (England)

3/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottled . Not a huge fan of this brewer so far. Yeasty choc/caramel, pretty sweet and a little bit syruppy to be honest, a very flat mouthfeel, with not much interesting happening, definitely on the sweeter side of the scale, i've yet to be won over by this brewer, but this isn't a bad beer though.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2004 12:24:30 | More by rastaman

MrVonzipper

California

3/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A fairly cloudy, pale blonde pour. Very nice frothy while head with very good head retention, through the whole beer. Noticeable yeast remnants and carbonation.

Not very much working on the nose, a little plum, light malt

Not a ton going on as far as flavor profile notes as well. Light caramel, plum, light malt. Almost a nutty-pumpkin bread like aftertaste

Mouthfeel is pretty good. Good carbonation smooth most of the way with a little bitterness at the end.

Overall I'm a little confused with this beer. It takes like a blonde bock to me. Flavor notes along with the smell are pretty flat. It's not bad and is a decent spring type beer. But I'm just so confused with what it's trying to achieve cuz it's just so simple. It kind of tastes like it's a homebrewers first attempt at the style.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2011 05:28:29 | More by MrVonzipper

b11

3/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This was once one of my favorites, for a number of years. Now it is made in Belgium (as of June 2012) and it is a significantly different beer, not the same at all. I taste the following: hoppier and less sweet (the subtle sweetness of this beer was one of my pleasures), far less yeast taste (again, I loved this) and more filtered for sure, and less malt taste. It's as if the brewers said "let's make Hennepin taste more like Heineken". Very disappointing. I will not be buying this again (until they make it in NY).

If you doubt me please check this out yourself, the new label says "Product of Belgium" right on the front.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2012 23:16:07 | More by b11

mttaylor1066

Connecticut

3.03/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

I've had this beer a few times in the past years, but now that I sit down to review it, it disappoints.

Perhaps I've opened a poorly stored bottle.

A- Like a lager, bright yellow. Lots of mousse that effervesces like mad, settling into a thin top layer in my thin goblet.

S- The most apealing aspect of this beer is the aroma. Spicy with a note of citrus.

T - I can't get away from the rather unpleasant bitterness that overwhelms the palate. Not a pleasant bite, not balanced by anything else in the ale. Perhaps I am just not in tune with the hops used in this ale.

M - Light with an active fizz.

D - Due to the persistent bitterness, I wouldn't say this is an enjoyable ale/

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2011 22:30:49 | More by mttaylor1066

NJpadreFan

New Jersey

3.05/5  rDev -27%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Hennepin

Appearance- Light copper brown with a super thick head. Heavy lacing throughout.
Smell- Alcohol, vanilla, clove, and spice.
Taste- slighty tart up front with a spicey clove, vanilla, and orange rind flavor.
Mouthfeel- Boozey throughout. A little tart and crisp with the bulk of the flavor in the end.

Overall- Not as musty or funky as I was expecting. Light flavor with a big alcohol presence. The strong highly noticable alcohol knocks this 1 down a notch.

Serving type: on-tap

07-27-2007 00:57:23 | More by NJpadreFan

kosmoraios

Washington

3.05/5  rDev -27%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Sampled on tap at the Taphouse in Bellevue. Perhaps this pour wasn't quite right in some way, as my experience differs from that of other reviewers.

Pour was a very light, cloudy straw yellow with an insubstantial white head and little lacing. Aroma was light and zesty, and perhaps the best part of this ale - lemon, white pepper, and sourdough bread.

Taste was light and watery, notes of citrus fruit and spices - cardamom, clove, pepper along with a sour yeast flavor. A metallic tin flavor leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. This ale lacks substance: almost no carbonation, very light, oily on the tongue. More substance and more carbonation would go a long way toward saving this ale, as long as the tin flavor could be vanquished.

Serving type: on-tap

11-16-2008 23:56:26 | More by kosmoraios

snaotheus

Washington

3.05/5  rDev -27%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

750ml bottle split into two really big snifters. I left the yeasty sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

So, it looks pretty clear, straw yellow, with a very robust head and lots of active lacing. Cork made a nice pop, too. Smell is spicy and somehow unpleasant. It makes me think of cheap lagers. Kinda yeasty.

Taste is a bit funky, kinda spicy. Very yeasty, even though I left the sediment behind. I can't taste much else, in fact.

Mouthfeel is a little dry and chalky. Overall, this seems OK to me. Maybe I didn't get the best bottle; it was on clearance.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2011 02:54:16 | More by snaotheus

lurpy1

Minnesota

3.08/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Shared with the wife last night on a scorching hot day.

Pours golden yellow, retained a pretty good head. Someone please tell me this beer doesn't look like a urine specimen?

Smell is a bit off-putting, a little bit too yeasty for me. It's not terribly different from the smell of baseball stadium beer, and that's not a good thing.

The taste is somewhat floral, with hints of citrus and breakfast spices in there. Not bad, certainly easy to drink, but also somehow a little bit thin and watery. I know this is not supposed to be a big beer, but there could have been more here.

Quite fizzy in the mouth, but saison's are pretty fizzy. Mission accomplished on Ommegang's part, I guess.

Certainly, this is not bad, but I'm evidently not part of the adoring crowd this beer has. Frankly, I gotta be honest, compared to the "best of the worst" of the macro-brews, stuff like Leinie's, Rolling Rock, I cannot say that Hennepin is better than those beers by an order of magnitude.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2011 15:57:19 | More by lurpy1

alexipa

Colorado

3.08/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

A: Too clear for the style. I need some floaties! Lacing is great with a nice thin head.

S: I don't know what to say here... smells a bit like Miller Lite. Maybe a little bit of fruit on the finish.

T: Some fruit, lots of light malt, not a ton going on though. Dry finish is quite nice.

M: They got this right. It feels light, the perfect amount of carbonation, just very pleasant.

O: Pretty good. I've been drinking a lot of Saison/farmhouse ales and this is the worst I've tried so far. I love the style, though.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2012 03:24:15 | More by alexipa

atomicbeer

New Mexico

3.1/5  rDev -25.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a cloudy yellow with a fine white mousse head. Aroma is of clover honey and white pepper. Taste is fruity and wet stone. Mouthfeel has a decent body. As this is a farmhouse ale, I paired this with a French Altantique cheese and a rustic baguette -- magnificent!

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2011 02:49:11 | More by atomicbeer

bobhits

Kentucky

3.1/5  rDev -25.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a huge head, large bubbles, but unlike most large bubbled beers these have some staying power. The body is citrus lemon like yellow and fairly clear given the Belgian Nature of this one.

OK, what the hell is that smell….pouring this one is smells like something has gone terribly wrong! Surprisingly once in the glass and smelling the beer in there, it smells pretty decent. Somewhat sour nature gives off lemon, pale malt, pepper, and just overall smells dry if that’s possible.

Wow hops, bannas, cloves, funk, the hef flavors given way to apples and pears with a following sips. There are light subtle candy flavors here, but they don’t balance the sour citrus nature of the beer. A rather interesting and refreshing beer.

A summer master piece on the tongue at first, but the weight of the alcohol comes into play here a bit. I’m not sure when or why one should drink this beer, but I’d highly recommend trying it out.

I hate reviewing this style as they all seem to take on such different characteristics. There is always a hop/sour effect but after that it seems like everything is fair game. As a result all I can say is this one of the best I’ve had with the style, but I believe the results can still be far better.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2011 03:14:56 | More by bobhits

Nay

Pennsylvania

3.1/5  rDev -25.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I'm bewildered by the super-high ratings for this beer. Malty, finishes sweet, closer to a dunkel than a saison. Color is a lot darker and quite clear compared to other saisons. Pilsner malt flavor with other malt aromas I can't place, but not dry, tart, or refreshing. Where are the phenols and character>?Long lasting head and lace. I won't finish a glass.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2012 03:43:54 | More by Nay

Murchmac

California

3.13/5  rDev -25.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I think I can, I think I can. Like this style. Me drinking this beer is like teaching physics to monkeys. Cute but hard to understand.

Pours a light goldent honey, some head. lacing on the side.

Smells of banana? Flowery.

Peppery taste, Pear taste, sweetness. Floral?

Sweet aftertaste, not as acidic as the other Saison I had.

Still would love it on a hot summers day. I will keep on keepin on.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2008 05:02:21 | More by Murchmac

bowersdm

Ohio

3.13/5  rDev -25.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1

12 oz bottle poured into a nonic.

This is my first saison.

A - very, very light yellow color. This is probably the lightest beer I have ever seen. I had to stop after about 8 oz because the glass was going to overflow from the carbonation. Ten minutes later, I was able to finish the pour. The head was whitish and around 4cm tall. It was very lumpy also

S - fruit, yeast, some spices, definitely cloves.

T - this beer has absolutely no malt flavor to it (to me, at least), it is not the least bit sweet. very, very dry with a slight fruitiness. cloves are noticeable as are other spices. Very dry finish, not bitter, just dry. I guess that's what this type of beer is supposed to taste like, but I'm not really sure.

M - it was very thin, but I'm guessing that's normal for the style. It had a lot of carbonation too.

D - I didn't like it's dryness.

Note: I didn't like this beer at all. However, it's somewhat highly rated because it does exhibit the characteristics that the style description lists. Once i get more experience with Saisons, I may edit this review to better reflect that rating of its characteristics.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2009 06:32:29 | More by bowersdm

jsanford

Georgia

3.15/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750 corked-and-caged bottle split with the girlfriend between 2 Chimay goblets. Bottle date is 12/17/09

A - Hazy golden-straw with a thick, luscious head of creamy white foam. Phenomenal lacing and retention.

S - Banana, clove, lemon zest, biscuits and yeast.

T - Banana dominates again with some yeast and lemon in there. Really getting a bitter spiciness towards the end that a) I can't really place and b) I'm not enjoying too much. Not sure what to make of this, I had such high hopes...

M - Slick with a medium body and high carbonation.

D - I generally like saisons so I feel I could drink this pretty easily. However, I don't know if I got a bad bottle or something, but the bitterness is really overpowering and unpleasant. I'll have to re-visit, I know this can be better then this.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2010 22:56:05 | More by jsanford

zeledonia

Minnesota

3.15/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bottled on 31 March 2011. Tasted 23 September 2011, reviewed from notes.

Pours a really nice golden yellow. Mostly clear, with a light haze. Big fluffy white head that sticks around for a long time. Some spotty lace, not much. It's one of those beers that you pour and it just goes "poof!" Bright color, glowing, topped by a huge gob of white foam.

Smell is dominated by Belgian yeast. A little bit of faint musty barnyard funk. Lots of spice, especially clove, with a little banana, and some slightly sharper spice. I like it. To me, it smells more like a Belgian golden than a saison. But it's good.

Taste starts out slightly sweet, musty, malty, with that light earthy flavor characteristic of saisons. All those layers, just like it should be. But then a huge dose of hops spoils it all, bringing a tingly bite that doesn't feel right to me for this style. Finishes pretty bitter - not what I was looking for. My feeling is that they were trying to make a hopped-up saison, and it didn't really work out. It detracts from the beer by overshadowing all that subtle complexity with pure bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, high carbonation. Fizzy and tingly. Quite good, but I would appreciate it more if it weren't reviving flavors I don't want.

Over-hopped, especially for a saison. I don't pick up the hop character in the smell, but it's quite obvious in the taste, and its effects are largely negative. That's really too bad, as what's there underneath that bitterness is quite solid.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 02:03:48 | More by zeledonia

mryuk

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

pours a very light filtered pale yellow with several fingers of head.

smell is sour and fruit with light malts and almost no hops.

taste is certainly unique...i just don't find it to be in a good way. light and sour with no hops.

mouth is light with good carbonation.

very bland and boring for me and just does not taste very good.

Serving type: bottle

04-09-2011 17:15:22 | More by mryuk

viverlee

Ohio

3.19/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Beer No. 57 – Ommegang Hennepin

I keep a bit of everything in the house because you never know when a summer craving will come a little early.

STYLE: Saison / Farmhouse Ale

ABV: 7.7%

LOOK: Less than yellow, refreshing. Ideal one-finger head that doesn’t resist a subtle sip.

NOSE: It won’t shine here. And that’s OK because that rather misses the point. Loafy and dry.

MOUTH: White pepper, nonfat butter, bitter salad greens. It’s not – memorable. On the front, too much rind and not enough zest. On the back, a quiet lagerish coat.

Beeradvocate Rating: 93

ratebeer Rating: 97

Hayward Abbey Rating: 83

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2013 01:39:56 | More by viverlee

lordofthewiens

Maine

3.2/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I was looking forward to trying this beer, and came away unimpressed. I had a 750ml bottle, started cold, let the bottle sit at room temperature before pouring again. It was a cloudy yellow appearance with a very minimal head and no lace to speak of. It had a nice tart fruit odor to it, and a nondescript fruity taste, with some slight hoppiness. It felt just OK in the mouth. Was good to drink, but not exciting. I'll have to try it again to see if it was me or that particular bottle that wasn't working well.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2006 02:48:38 | More by lordofthewiens

ccrida

Oregon

3.2/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

I've had this one on tap a few times, and while it's one of my favorite styles, I was never too impressed with the Hennepin. This is my first bottle. As soon as I twisted the cage loose, the corked exploded out, with a little bit of gush, but a relatively easy pour, into my St. Feuillien Goblet. The Saison is a golden yellow with tons of streamers and a big, pillowly white head. While I'd rather it a bit cloudy, the head is really gorgeous, and with the effervescence, continues to grow in a nice rocky fashion. It is very slow to subsided and leaves blankets of foam and lace to the very end.

The smell is sweet, some honey and vanilla, a bit floral, with rustic grain, a decent bite of booze, and a hint of diactyle as it warms. Overall, more omphh and saison-like then it is on draft, so it's off to a good start, although still on the understated side.

Well, so far this has been much better then the draft version, which was bland and unobjectable. While the taste certainly isn't bland, it's really not too good. Initially there's some sweetness, but it's quickly overcome by a husky astringency, is a tad chalky, rather hot and boozy. Letting it warm too much, it gets worse, funky, but not in that fun belgian way, just off, with a bit of diactyle. Overall, it seems like they were more focused with making it taste rough for that farmhouse authenticity, rather then taste really good. I'm not so hard points wise on the graininess, but booze is too much to ignore, especially for only 7.7.

The mouthfeel is very creamy, medium light bodied.

This wasn't too drinkable. It was just too husky and astringent, and not enjoyable enough. While the heat might fade in cellar, I'm not so sure about those grain tannins.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2007 04:53:49 | More by ccrida

Hojaminbag

Colorado

3.2/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A clear golden body with lots of carbonation bubbles flying around.

Smell has some hop character and lots of yeast character. Heavy notes of spices.

Taste has some sweetness that is fruity, sugary and a little malty. The body of the flavor comes from yeast; it is peppery, white peppery, slightly medicinal. It seems that there is some added spice also. Some hop character can also be detected in there.

A very crisp, carbonated mouthfeel, but probably a little more body than the best belgians..

Pretty drinkable here, but tastes overly spiced, whether it was or not.

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2008 20:56:27 | More by Hojaminbag

pdxwhisky

Oregon

3.2/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours golden into glass. Nice head, good retention. Nice yeasty esthers on the nose. Taste is marred by high alcohol content - not very balanced. Good carbonation - fit for style. Overall drinkability flawed by lingering alcohol flavor on finish. Not bad - but not balanced enough to be great.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2009 00:24:00 | More by pdxwhisky

xfactor9600

Indiana

3.2/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A plastic cup at Fall for Greenville (THink taste of ....)

A: Golden, with a thick head. Once again, I don't think I got the best pour from the festival worker in the Ommegang tent.

S: Citrus with some hits of pear or other similar fruit.

T. Just as it smelled, but at times almost a nectarine like taste. A surprising spicy bite to it.

M: Very light; some decent carbonation.

D: Drinkable to me at least as a sipper. This was my third beer of the festival, and noticed it took me much longer to get through this beer than the other two. I'll likely try this again in a more standard sitting and see how that goes.

Serving type: on-tap

10-12-2009 13:26:57 | More by xfactor9600