Ommegang Releases Great Beyond, First Ever DIPA

(COOPERSTOWN, NY) Tucked between lush hills and alongside a lazy river, beyond the lights and crowds and bustle, is a brewery unlike any other. From this bucolic setting in Cooperstown, NY, comes a very special new beer: Great Beyond Double IPA. More so than any other beer ever crafted at Brewery Ommegang, this beer was designed to be transcendent – to transport drinkers to an idyllic Upstate NY state-of-mind and being. The new brew ships nationally throughout June in six-packs and draft.

 

The first beer Ommegang has released since it was named Champion Brewery and Brewmaster for mid-sized breweries at the 2016 World Beer Cup, Great Beyond Double IPA is a build upon the highly successful Nirvana IPA. Nirvana debuted almost exactly one-year ago throughout the brewery’s northeast backyard of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. In only 12 months, as reported by IRI in NY Food data, Nirvana is already the #3 selling NY-IPA. Overall, it is the #13 selling IPA 6-pack despite having weighted distribution well below 50%.

 

“Double IPA is a style we were excited to brew – it’s a further exploration beyond the Belgian-styles we are known for historically,” said Phil Leinhart, Brewmaster for Brewery Ommegang. “Nirvana received such a great reaction, of course we wanted to see if we could take that to another level. And I’m really excited we are sharing this beer nationally – unlike Nirvana which we restrict to our heartland, fans everywhere can enjoy Great Beyond and tell us what they think.”

 

Great Beyond pours a hazy light copper color with a thick white head. The aroma is intensely fruity thanks to massive hop editions; notes of mango, pineapple, and apricot dominate the nose, with underlying hints of sweet citrus. The flavor is full of juicy, fruity hop character with resinous pine undertones. The body is pleasantly full with a silky mouthfeel and big balanced bitterness. The finish lingers, finally resolving to a pleasant hop presence. Great Beyond is 8.8% ABV and 83 IBUs, a true palate-wrecker.

 

Brewed with pilsner and Munich 20 malts, along with additions of flaked oats, and dextrose, Great Beyond has a beautifully smooth mouthfeel. Hopping is done throughout the brewing process with a blend of Columbus, Cascade, Centennial, Mosaic, Calypso, and Mandarina Bavaria hops, and the beer is fermented with American ale yeast.

 

Great Beyond pairs with big bold flavors like smoked and cured meats, barbeque, curries, and all manner of spicy food such as Thai stir fry. Bold rich chesses like extra-sharp cheddar and bleu cheese are excellent as well. Find Great Beyond in June throughout Ommegang’s distribution area in 12 oz. six-packs and on draft.

Brewery Ommegang opened in 1997 to craft-brew fine Belgian-style ales. Ommegang brews eight ales year-round, as well as an extensive and imaginative range of seasonal and specialty ales. The beers have won a national following by connoisseurs of fine beer and are distributed in 45 states and internationally. Ommegang is located on a 136-acre farmstead in Cooperstown, New York and offers free daily tours and inexpensive tastings as well as a 100-seat café, a well-stocked brewery store, and an annual calendar of public events. Ommegang is open every day of the year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. For more information, contact info@ommegang.com, call 1-800-544-1809, or visit www.ommegang.com. Ommegang is a member of the Duvel family of fine beers. Follow Ommegang on Twitter: @BreweryOmmegang, Facebook.com/Ommegang, and Instagram: @BreweryOmmegang

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Grimm Scores DIPA Tasting Victory

 

Brooklyn, New York • August 31, 2015 — Grimm Artisanal Ales captures #1 and #4 slots in one of the largest blind tastings of Double IPA ever conducted, bringing the hoppy crown home to NYC. The 115 beer lineup included many of the world’s top-ranked examples of the style: legendary beers like The Alchemist’s Heady Topper, Lawson’s Sip of Sunshine, and Russian River’s Pliny The Elder. Facilitated by Paste Magazine in Atlanta, Georgia, the event represents the most rigorous blind tasting ever conducted under the auspices of a media organization.

The top rated beers were gathered from all over.  With a view to freshness, all beers were tasted within a few weeks of release. The large tasting panel consisted of professional beer writers, brewery owners, brewmasters, BJCP-certified tasters, restaurateurs, brewery reps and journalists. Tasting was done first in heats of 10 beers each, with the best beers moving on into the final round.

Unbelievably, Grimm Artisanal Ales captured not just the #1 spot with Lambo Door, but two out of the top four slots, making Grimm a heavyweight contender for the title: best DIPA brewer in the world. Tesseract, a drier and more aggressive double IPA, took fourth place.

Even more impressively, Grimm has accomplished this feat while operating as a nomadic brewery: they don’t own a brewery of their own.  Instead, they travel to other breweries near and far, brewing their beer on other breweries’ equipment. The Grimms brewed these particular award-winning beers during their summertime residency at Flagship Brewing Company of Staten Island, New York.

The incredible victory in the DIPA tasting couldn’t come at a more appropriate time for Grimm. In mid-September, they are set to release their first ever canned beer: a brand new Double IPA named Afterimage. The canned beverage will be a juicy, fruity hop bomb in the same vein as their winning Lambo Door and Tesseract. Supplies will be limited, with 120 cases released in New York City and 80 cases released in the rest of New York state. The Grimms are currently looking at properties in Brooklyn, where they intend to build a brick-and-mortar brewery which will allow them to take their creativity to new heights.

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The two-person company consists of Joe Grimm and Lauren Grimm, a married couple living in Gowanus, Brooklyn (and frequently on the road).  They are best known for creative, single batch beers:  one to two new brews are released each month, and many of these limited edition beers are never brewed a second time.  Their trademark styles are dry-hopped sour/wild ales, double IPA’s, and imperial stouts.

The Grimms are no stranger to defying the odds and winning huge in rigorous blind tastings; at the most recent Great American Beer Festival, the couple won the Silver Medal in the Imperial Stout category for their celebrated Double Negative Imperial Stout.

For more about the Paste Magazine / Double IPA competition, visit pastemagazine.com. 

For more about Grimm Artisanal Ales, visit GrimmAles.com.

info@GrimmAles.com • 409.370.0422 • GrimmAles.com

Ithaca Double IPA

I tasted Ithaca Beer Company's Double IPA at Aroma Thyme Bistro with Chef/Owner Marcus Guiliano. I bought two four packs about 10 months ago when I heard that IBC might stop producing the beer. Here is our video blog about the beer.