Breaking News - "Cave Aged" Hennepin From Brewery Ommegang
March 20, 2000 -- Ommegang's Hennepin Goes Underground Only to Emerge for the Holiday Season
On a freezing day in February, 280 cases of Hennepin were transported forty five minutes east of Cooperstown to the heart of "cave country." The beer was lowered 156 feet into the celebrated Howe Caverns.
Thus began an unusual experiment, the success of which can be measured this holiday season when CAVE AGED HENNEPIN is released as the brewery's Christmas beer. This is the first cave aging of beer on American soil in recent memory.
Forty meters below ground, at a constant temperature of 52 degrees F (12 C), Brewery Ommegang's Saison Grisette ale is peacefully maturing. Randy Thiel (brewer) and Don Feinberg (owner) expect this to be the smoothest, best tasting Hennepin on record.
Hennepin has already been named "one of the ten best drinks of the year" by USA Today and was the only beer to make the list. Spirit Journal awarded Hennepin its top 5 star rating, describing the beer as follows: "long finish, malty sweet, and firmly structured; a simply fabulous domestic ale achievement." Food & Wine called Hennepin "a stylish ale with flavors of orange, toasted grain and ginger."
In the spring of 1999, a modest quantity of Hennepin was stored in a deep cellar on the grounds of the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown. The beer remained undisturbed until the Museum's Harvest Festival in September. The cellaring had produced a very attenuated, refreshing and sparkling beer, with flavors markedly different from young bottles of Hennepin. What the chilled quiescent rest had wrought, Don and Randy determined to recreate under ideal conditions.
Remarkably, such conditions were near at hand in Schoharie County. In the section of the Allegheny Plateau north of Cobleskill which is capped by early to middle Devonian Heiderberg and Onondaga limestones, conditions are ideal for cave formation. The most celebrated of these formations is Howe Caverns.
"We set out to replicate as closely as possible the conditions that produce extraordinary champagnes," explained Don Feinberg. "The virtues of cave aging are well understood by champagne producers. I remember having read Serena Sutcliffe on champagne. There is no doubt that these dark, silent, subterranean "cathedrals" are the ideal surroundings for secondary fermentation and maturation of wines (and beers). It is further known that cold constant temperature between 50 and 55 degrees leads to great complexity, and that the colder the storage, the slower the maturation."
Feinberg continues, "Logically then, beer that has been aged in the cold cellars should taste much younger than beer of the same vintage stored at 65 to 70 degrees." The chalk caves at Reims and Epemay, though half as deep as Howe's are almost precisely the same temperature (between 9 and 12 degrees). Our aging is lasting three times as long (9 months) as a classic champagne's."
Of course, only bottle-conditioned beers would benefit from this type of treatment. The cold aging follows two warm fermentations. A signal feature of bottle-conditioned Belgian beers is their sturdiness. Thanks to live yeast and high alcohol content, they are capable of being aged and improving over time. As those who visit Ommegang see, the beer is first fermented in tank (in an open fermenter). A month later, at the time of bottling, a secondary fermentation is induced. The still beer is dosed with yeast and sugar, then placed in a warm cellar for an additional three weeks. During this time natural carbonation develops. The resulting very fine bead is immediately discernible from carbonation achieved through the injection of gas.
The Belgian brewing practice of inducing a secondary fermentation in the bottle is not coincidentally known as "methode champenoise."
Whether Schoharie will become as famous in the wine and spirit world as Epemay and Reims remains to be seen. But, Howe Caverns'celebrity is already assured. It is the second most visited natural attraction in New York State after Niagara Falls (discovered by none other than the Belgian, Father Hennepin himself). Howe Caverns has received more than 13 million visitors.
When the first holiday bottles are uncorked, a variation on a classic French regional dish, potee champenoise (a hearty soup served with meat and vegetables on the side) will be prepared. Dubbed "potee schoharoise" the repast will be prepared with Cave Aged Hennepin to commemorate this unusual collaboration.
For further information about Howe Cavern go to http://www.howecaverns.com
For further information about Cave Aged Hennepin, obtaining cases therof, a recipe for potee schoharoise, and/or Brewery Ommegang, contact Wendy Littlefield http://www.ommegang.com
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