Adoration
Brewery Ommegang

AdorationAdoration
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Brewery Ommegang
 
New York, United States
Style:
Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Ranked #35
ABV:
10%
Score:
91
Ranked #6,547
Avg:
4.09 | pDev: 11.49%
Reviews:
378
Ratings:
1,149
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 04, 2022
Added:
Aug 04, 2009
Wants:
  120
Gots:
  216
Ommegang Adoration, brewed in the authentic style of Belgian winter, or noel beer, is dark, malty and assertively spiced.

Adoration is best sipped before a roaring fire. It would also be a tasty accompaniment to dark roasts and wild game. Even at 10% abv, the beer is well balanced and not at all hot or fiery. The dark malts give it lush, malty flavors, including coriander, orange peel, mace, cardamom and grains of paradise. Hopping is modest, as befits such a beer.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by awess1221:
Photo of awess1221
Reviewed by awess1221 from Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +10%
Great rich dark color
Very flavorful spiced complexity
Boozy but not overpowering
Just the right amount of everything
Reminded me of an old fashioned Christmas
Dec 10, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.81 by WynnO from Florida

Oct 04, 2022
Photo of TooManyGlasses
Reviewed by TooManyGlasses from Canada (AB)

4.3/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Thanksgiving dinner 2021 (Canadian) - bottle from 2019, cellared at ~ 60 degrees F.
Tawny dark amber pour - clear with a little sediment left in bottle - short lived khaki head.
Bready caramel malt aroma - brown sugar, spices and dark fruits on the nose - touch of molasses - enticing and inviting.
Sweet without being cloying, caramel malt, toffee flavour, rich with spices, dates/dark fruits - demerara sugar, molasses and a hint of sarsaparilla/root beer.
Moderately carbonated with a solid medium full mouthfeel - sweet and warming with just a touch of booziness - perfect turkey dinner accompaniment.
Oct 11, 2021
 
Rated: 4.25 by Burg from New Hampshire

May 05, 2021
 
Rated: 4.32 by Branlott42 from Missouri

Oct 17, 2020
 
Rated: 5 by Iowagian from Maryland

Aug 22, 2020
 
Rated: 4.31 by smb71481 from Vermont

May 28, 2019
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

4.21/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
12oz bottle - now we're cooking with gas, because it's still -25C in March!

This beer pours a clear, medium bronzed amber colour, with a teeming tower of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat bubbly beige head, which leaves a bit of coral reef atoll pattern lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of bready and doughy caramel malt, a sugary coriander and minty spiciness, blood orange citrus rind, a further indistinct dark orchard fruitiness, some ethereal estery yeast, and very, very, very subtle earthy, musty, and dead leafy hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, a lesser biscuity toffee sweetness, muddled earthy spice, macerated orange peel, more black stone fruity notes, and some ghostly herbal, leafy, and perfumed floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate in its palate-supporting frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, with a wee airy creaminess evolving as things push past the 50F point by now (thanks Mr. Furnace!). It finishes off-dry, the malt, citrus, and blended spices whooping it up at the lingering after-party.

Overall - yup, this is certainly a well-rendered version of the style (one of my faves, full disclosure), replete with flavour. And with nary a sniff of the straight-up 10 points of the ol' wowee sauce, I shall enjoy sipping on the rest of this, glancing once and a while at the snowbanks outside.
Mar 02, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by brittanylicious from Indiana

Jan 13, 2019
 
Rated: 4 by heysuz from Indiana

Jan 13, 2019
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
I am now into Late Night New Beer Sunday (LNNBS) (Week 711) & as long as the thread remains open, I have some new beers to review! This one was part of my first Tavour shipment, but being a bottle, it kinda got shunted to the side. 8=(

From the Bottle: "Ommegang Ales are incomparable - yielding unique flavors and aromas. Inspired by deep insight into Belgian brewing and infused with Ommegang's creative upstate NY spirit[.] Each ale offers perfect balance and pure drinking pleasure."; "Dark Winter Ale"; "Ale Brewed with Spices: Coriander, Cardamom, Mace, Grains of Paradise, Sweet Orange Peel."; "Follow your own star and give the gift of Adoration, rich with Spices of Coriander, Cardamom, Mace, Grains of Paradise, Sweet Orange Peel. This fine ale continues the Belgian tradition of spiced Winter Ales. Blessed with deep maltiness, this is an extraordinary sipping beer and a treasure to cellar for years."; "Part of the Duvel family of fine Belgian ales"; "Pour slowly so as not to disturb the yeast sediment, but with enough vigor to create a luxurious head and release the rich bouquet."

I Pop!ped the cap & began a slow, gentle pour into the awaiting tulip glass. How slow? The white cedar that I planted in my back yard grew several feet in the interim! Once it was sufficiently decanted, an in-glass swirl raised just under three fingers of dense, fizzy, foamy, deep-tan/light-brown head with moderate retention. It was kind enough to leave some nice lacing in its wake. Color was a pretty Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with NE-quality clarity. Nose was REALLY spicy! No doubt that this is a Holiday/Winter Ale. This could be mulled & sipped from a cup with a slice of spice cake. I'm not even going to try and discern all of the spices, but suffice it to say that this put potpourri to shame! Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, not quite creamy, but on the approach. I allowed it to roll around on my tongue to warm, really bringing out the spiciness. Mmm. Warming, the orange peel became more assertive, rounding the edges of the spices. It was definitely a Strong Ale as I could feel its effects pretty quickly. The spices really meshed well, creating a general, rather than a jangly, spiciness. Finish was quite dry and very spicy, which was really no surprise. Mmm.
Oct 08, 2018
Photo of Ozzylizard
Reviewed by Ozzylizard from Pennsylvania

4.09/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
$ 6.77 (Including shipping)/capped 12 oz bottle ($ 0.564/oz) from Tavour, Seattle, WA.
Undated bottle, stored at 42 degrees and served at 50 degrees (per label instructions) in a hand-washed and hand-dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.75.
Body – Brown, hazy, effervescent. When held to the light, it passes through the entire translucent body. There is some sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
Head – Large (Maximum four cm, aggressive center pour), tan, medium density with rocks, rapidly diminishing to a two to three mm ring fed by effervescence and no layer, just a few small islands fed by effervescence.
Lacing – None.
First pour – Light brown, clear.
Aroma – 4 – Sweet dark fruit.
Flavor – 4.25 – Begins with moderately sweet with malt and “dark fruits” although dates seem to predominate. The spices are well-blended into a mélange of flavor with no spice standing out. The sweetness is never cloying. It ends with a touch of alcohol (10% ABV) and a sweet coating of the palate. No hops, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 4 – Medium to full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Impression and summation – 4 - Overall, a good example of a Belgian strong dark ale from the days before Ommegang began pimping bad TV shows.
May 14, 2018
 
Rated: 3.91 by SouthCrescent from Pennsylvania

Apr 22, 2018
Photo of beergoot
Reviewed by beergoot from Colorado

4.16/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Fairly hazy, burnt amber colored body; one-finger thick head, dense and foamy; some streaks of foam along the glass. Sweet caramel aroma; dates and other molasses and brown sugar; dark, pitted fruits. The taste mirrors the smell; a sweeter fruitiness is present; winter holiday spices; candi sugar; gets a bit boozy towards the finish. Heavy body; some strong residual sugar presence; coarse on the palate with carbonation; warm and toasty.

I may be late in drinking a winter ale near the start of Spring, but this beer still hits the spot (especially since I like strong, malt-forward ales anytime of the year). Rich and complex, decently balanced with a mostly sweet and roasted grain feel, the alcohol pretty well tamed.
Mar 28, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by NickThePyro from Washington

Mar 16, 2018
 
Rated: 4.09 by rarigney from Washington

Mar 12, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Patches826 from Massachusetts

Feb 26, 2018
 
Rated: 4.5 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Jan 02, 2018
 
Rated: 3.93 by kkmiller76 from New Jersey

Dec 24, 2017
 
Rated: 4.75 by ElPatito from Colorado

Oct 12, 2017
Adoration from Brewery Ommegang
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 1149 ratings