WILK Friday Beerbuzz – 28 May 2010 (Ommegang Three Philosophers)

WILKFridayBerbuzz7 Hello and welcome to week 4 of the Friday Beerbuzz on WILK.  Before I get too far in this post I wanted to quickly thank our readers and listeners.  We received a lot of great comments and suggestions after the show and we are reading them all…so keep it up.  We want to know what beers you liked and what you think of the show…and of course what beers we should be tasting in the future.

 



This week we’re kicking off the Memorial Day weekend, and since it’s a big weekend, I chose a big beer.  The beers of Brewery Ommegang have always been some of my favorites, and I’ll admit that this one is perhaps my favorite Ommegang beer.  Three Philosophers is a wonderful bottle-conditioned beer blend that I love drinking.  How can you not love a fine belgian-style Quadruple blended with an authentic Lindemans Kreik lambic?  This beer has flavors of chocolate, vanilla, dark fruits and a very tasty and malty backbone that I think really works well. 
Ommegang3PhilSo what about the name?  Well I’ve heard all sorts of details, but I’ll go with what Phil Leinhart (brewmaster at Ommegang) and Larry Bennet (Ministry of Propaganda at Ommegang) tell me.  The beer was created as a result of a ratebeer dream beer competition and Ommegang was selected to brew the beer.  As Larry tells me, “The beer is named after a William Blake play titled Island in the Moon where three philosophers, a Cynic, and Epicurian and a Pythagorean debate the meaning of life. 

The cynic questions why we must do anything, the epicurean delights in the beauty and loveliness of all things, and the Pythagorean is the rational philosopher working how to make things actually happen. I think you can easily fill in the connections between their points-of-view and the beer.”

After some “thoughtful debate and pontification” by the brewing team, Three Philosophers was born.  And for those wondering, the three silhouettes on the bottle are Randy Theil (creator of 3P), Michael Moortgat (CEO of Duvel) and Phil Leinhart (brewmaster @ Ommegang).

 



Today’s show was a ton of fun and since you always ask, I can tell you everyone really enjoyed Three Philosophers.  This is not a beer to drink quickly, but a beer to savor and enjoy as you toast your friends, family and the beginning of summer.  This is also a beer that cellars well, and it’s readily available in Northeastern, PA so be sure to check it out.

So what beer should we taste next Friday…only time and your input will tell, so please do make suggestions.  Once again another fun Friday morning on the WILK Friday Beerbuzz.  Thanks to John, Nancy, Joe & Bosco for yet another fun Friday.  Bringing good beers and good people together.

 



As always you can check out the video on-line at the WILK Friday Beerbuzz page by clicking HERE.

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38 comments (click to read or post):

  1. Bill, loved the Three Philosophers!

    Thank you for another great beer and another outstanding Friday Beerbuzz!

    For those who love the standard, mainstream beers, the show is about discovery. Learning that as much as you thought you enjoyed a good beer, if you're not afraid to try something new you just might discover that you LOVE a good beer!

    Thanks again and a happy Memorial Day weekend to you and Mrs. Beerbuzz!

    Best,
    John
    (webster@wilknewsradio.com)

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  2. Thanks John...the show was tons of fun once again and I think we picked a great beer to kick off the holiday weekend! Bringing Good Beers and Good People Together.

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  3. Another great show Mr Buzz. My wife is shopping at Wegmans and I called her after the show. Guess what I have in my refridgerator now? Good news is she brough me two bottles so I'll be toasting the weekend with Three Philosophers!

    Greg J

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  4. Once again another great beer choice. As a long time beer lover I'm surprised how many people aren't aware of Three Philosophers. So did you really get to talk to Phil Lienhart?

    Mia

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  5. OK So I asked for a big beer and you did a big beer. I feel like I'm magic now. So how about doing an Imperial Stout next? I'm kidding but thanks for choosing a big beer. Great beer funny show and it sounded like everyone liked three philosophers (one of my favorite beers). I'm actually excited to see what you do next.

    Marty
    PS How do I not be anonymous?

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  6. Thank you. Mia...yes I traded e-Mail with Phil and Larry and ye sthey were happy to talk beer with me. I'm always excited to see our craft brewers and staff take the time to interract.

    Marty...I promise an Imperial Stout at some point, perhaps when we hit the Imp Stout season in a few months. The easiest way to not be anonymous on here is to create a gmail account. I believe you can also use any open ID account like Microsoft Live too.

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  7. Tom Brenholts28 May, 2010 10:41

    1) Three Philosophers is also available in 6 packs, for those who don't want to drink 750ml of 10% alcohol at one sitting.

    2) For a future show; how about a compare and contrast? Sometimes between two beers of the same style, sometimes similar but slightly different styles, sometimes between offerings from the same brewery. I was thinking, I would love hear about the difference between Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IPA. The difference is striking, and it would make a great show to expound on how, why, and what it means to the beer drinker (of the guy standing in front of the beer section in Wegman's wondering, what the HECK?).

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  8. Thanks Tom. Good point and excellent ideas. Three Philosophers IS available in smaller bottles and does age really well if you decide to cellar it. I have seen the smaller bottles at a few places, but I'm not sure who currently has them.

    I do think the compare and contract of two beers is a great idea and DFH 60 and 90 are a great example. I do try to refer back to previous week's beers for comparison, but I think it's a great idea. For now we're keeping it simple and focusing on one beer (and staying on time), but we will do more in the future with the show so stay tuned.

    Even I get overwhelmed by the beer selection available to the average consumer so I think helping people find a beer style or brewery they like can be helpful.

    Thanks again for your comments and please keep it up....we love hearing what people want on the Friday Beerbuzz.

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  9. The Friday Beer buzz > chip
    nuf said! Keep up the good and noble work guys.

    J

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  10. OK I'm hooked. See you next week.

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  11. You guys obviously have fun on the show and love the beer so naturally I have fun listening. Keep it up and thank you to WILK for a little Friday beer buzz fun. AND lest I forget, thank you for explaining who the three philosophers are! I never knew that and now I can impress all my ther beer friends assuming they weren't listening too.

    Brian G

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  12. Where's the video? I missed the show and want to watch the video back.

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  13. SO what's with the lady on after you comparing beer and pot and the lady on the phone saying she can't support the beer show? Amazing to me how people complain so much.

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  14. I did catch the caller and I believe she said she was living with an alchoholic and while she did listen to part of the show, she simply can't put the show on when this person is with her or condone it.

    Hard to find fault with her for doing that. We are responsibly promoting the growth of craft beer in our area but we realize it is not for everyone. Unfortunately with anything whether it be beer, drugs or even food, there will be people that can and cannot enjoy it responsibly.

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  15. So because one person is overweight we should outlaw cake and candy too? I think the show is great and there are MANY resposible people in the world. Keep up the good work.

    Arn

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  16. Today was my favorite show so far and I've caught all four. Looking forward to watching the video. There's so much great beer information on each show I have to play it back to get all the details. Happy Memorial Day Nancy John and Bill.

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  17. Tom Brenholts28 May, 2010 14:04

    "Three Philosophers IS available in smaller bottles and does age really well if you decide to cellar it. I have seen the smaller bottles at a few places, but I'm not sure who currently has them."

    I got my 6 pack at Wegman's, in Wilkes-Barre Twp.

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  18. I'll suggest a few beers to you in e-Mail to keep them secret, although you guys have been doing a great job. In 4 weeks you've represented four popular styles for new and experienced beer lovers. Might I suggest doing a little longer segment? It seems to end so quickly. Either way thank you for promoting craft beer in NEPA!

    Dan & June

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  19. Thanks Tom....Obviously I was overwhelmed enough by the selection to miss it. I appreciat eth heads up.

    Thanks everyone.

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  20. My Memorial Day is off to a great start. I picked up some 3 philosophers at Wegmans and even picked up another bottled of their Henepin beer to try out too. So we'll be celebrating the weekend with some of the Friday beer buzz beers. By the way we tried the Bells Ale and my husband loves it. So what beer is next?

    Anne M (and my loving beer husband)

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  21. I drink a lot of Blue Moon and I like it but can you guys tell me a beer like that I may like better?

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  22. All good stuff Anne and thanks for letting us know. Anon yes I can recommend a few. Blue Moon is a belgian Wit or white, so you may find that you like many of the standard wheat beers like Hoegaarden, Franziskaner, Troegs Dreamweaver, Victory Whirlwind Wit, or even some of the standard belgian style wits like Stegmaier White or the brewery we sampled today Ommegang makes a Witte beer. As you find something else you like check back in and I can probably point you to even more great beers.

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  23. My only complaints about the show are it's too short and I feel compelled to run out and buy each beer. I guess these are good complaints. Rock on guys.

    AJ

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  24. I think the surprise beer thing with Webster AND the hint you give out. If we guess it will you admit the beer of the week in advance?? I kid, nice show and great for our local beers.

    JAL

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  25. Thanks for all the great comments and stay tuned for more great beers on the WILK Friday Beerbuzz...and yes we'll tease the beer and give hints...but you'll never guess what I'm bringing next!

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  26. Wow! Phil Leinhart is now brewing for Ommegang! Here's the local connection: he was the brewmaster at The Lion for a few years after Guy Hagner left, then moved on to A-B in Newark, which was his last gig I knew of. Glad to hear he's returned to the craft side of things.

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  27. Great point Sam....and evry cool to see one of our own doing so well.

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  28. Get Shawnee Craft on your show!!!

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  29. You bet Jim...once we start doing guests I'll certainly check in with Leo B.

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  30. I've listen to each chow and watched the video a few times and I have a few observations:

    Be sure to do the video thing. The beer guy imparts a lot of information that I need to replay a few times to absorb. It's great beer knowledge, but I don't pick up everything in the live show.

    Keep the beer guy. He knows his beer stuff and he's fun to listen to and the chemistry with John and nancy is great.

    Keep choosing a variety of good beers, no single style or brewery.

    Make the show a little longer, I just get warmed up and it ends. It doesn't need to be real long but even 20-minutes or so would be great.

    All my friends are talking about it, and I tell everyone to listen in. We all love out local beers but we also love craft beers. I hate to compare, but I think the old show on 107 was ok, but this one has way more potential.

    Keep up the good work!

    Pete Pete

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  31. Another excellent show...Keep up the great work !!!
    Cheers,
    Stashu.

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  32. FYI, Phil Leinhart was once Ass't Brewmaster at Wilkes-Barre's very own Lion Brewery, oh so many years ago...

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  33. Thanks Stash and thanks Pete/Pete. We're having fun. It's a dirty job tasting beer but John, Nancy, Joe and I are willing to do it.

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  34. Thanks Guy...I know he followed you at Lion...and yes althought it didn't make it on the air, it is a great local connection that Sam was nice enough to remind me of too.

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  35. Tom Brenholts30 May, 2010 23:11

    I am completely overwhelmed every time I stand in the beer section at Wegman's, and I think I know what I am doing. I can't imagine what it must be like for someone who is just starting to move away from Coors and Killian's. Thanks for bringing sense and a bit of order to the world.

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  36. Thanks Tom. I'd agree. Hopefully we can continue to point out some good beers and some interesting styles and help bring good beers and good people together.

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  37. Oops, didn't see Sam's post first. Actually Phil had already moved on and Leo became Brewmaster when I left.

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  38. interesting...one of these days we'll have to write the history of Lion's brewmasters.

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