Founded in 1997, Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY, was built to bring traditional Belgian farmstead brewing to America. It is located on a 136-acre former hop farm in the Susquehanna River Valley. The brewery is renowned for pioneering Belgian-style ales in the U.S. and for its high-profile pop-culture collaborations
In the mid-1990s, Belgian beer importers Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield partnered with Belgian breweries—including Duvel Moortgat—to build an authentic Belgian-style farmstead brewery in the United States. They chose a historic hop-growing region near Cooperstown, NY, to mirror the rural, agricultural brewing traditions of Belgium. Construction was specifically designed to mimic a traditional Belgian farmhouse brewery.
When they opened in the winter of 1997, Ommegang introduced Americans to beers largely unknown to the general public, launching with their signature Abbey Dubbel. The popularity of their beers skyrocketed, and by 2003, Duvel Moortgat acquired full ownership of the brewery. Despite the corporate acquisition, the brewery retained its artisan, farmhouse identity while expanding distribution across the country.
Ommegang established an extensive portfolio of Belgian-style ales, highlighted by year-round staples such as Hennepin (a saison), Three Philosophers (a Belgian quadruple blended with kriek), and Witte (a Belgian-style wheat beer).
The brewery is also highly celebrated for its creative limited-edition lines and pop-culture collaborations. Most notably, Ommegang partnered with HBO from 2013 to 2019 to release a highly successful, critically acclaimed series of official Game of Thrones craft beers.
Situated at 656 County Highway 33 in Milford, just four miles outside of Cooperstown, Ommegang’s campus includes a full-service café and a merchandise store. They are also famous for hosting large-scale events in their outdoor amphitheater—such as their major annual beer festival, “Belgium Comes to Cooperstown” (BCTC), and live music performances from major touring acts.
Brewery Ommegang collaborated with Prison City Brewery in May to introduce Neon Riot, which is an expressive Belgian-style IPA. It’s billed as an explosive charge of six different hops unleashes tropical waves of stone fruit and citrus. A lively Belgian yeast strain threads gentle spice and bright esters through the hop intensity, finishing dry, silky, and smooth. Bold yet balanced, Neon Riot is a celebration of two breweries pushing flavor to the edge, and giving hops the freedom to run.
Prison City Pub and Brewery is a highly regarded craft brewery based in Auburn, New York, located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region.
The brewery was founded in 2014 by husband-and-wife duo Dawn and Marc Schulz. For several years, they envisioned opening a craft brewery in downtown Auburn and ultimately found the perfect location in the historic John Stevens building at the corner of State Street and Dill Street.
- The Name: The name “Prison City” pays homage to Auburn’s historical identity and its nickname, which stems from the 200-year-old maximum-security Auburn Correctional Facility located right in the center of the city.
- Industrial-Chic Vibe: Designed with an industrial aesthetic, the original brewpub features wood, glass, and metal accents, along with historical black-and-white photos of the local correctional facility curated from the Cayuga Museum archives. It also features a “mug shot” wall where visitors can pose for photos.
- National Acclaim: The small-batch brewery grew rapidly in popularity, earning national recognition early on for its experimental and classic beer styles, including heavily praised IPAs.
About Neon Riot
- Style: Belgian Style IPA – A fusion of the hoppy characteristics of American IPAs with the yeast-driven complexity typical of Belgian Ales.
- ABV: 7.7%
- IBU: 50 ish
- Hops: Citra, Topaz, Nelson Sauvin, Azacca, Simcoe, and Mosaic.
- Malt: Pilsner malts
- Appearance: Hazy & bright golden straw.
- Flavor Profile: Tropical, citrus, esters, with a Belgian yeast strain.
- Mouthfeel: Creamy, velvety, and soft on the front and back-end.
- Food Paring: Thai curry, grilled pork, mussels in garlic wine sauce.
Overall Impression
This collaboration between Brewery Ommegang and Prison City is a hit. Is it me or are there more breweries partnering with other local/regional breweries to introduce new or upgraded beer styles? Regardless, Neon Riot is a perfect blend of a traditional Hazy and a Belgian Ale with it’s unique yeast strain. I’ll admit that I haven’t sampled Prison City’s beer due to it’s distribution reach but Ommegang has been a solid brewer for years and you can’t beat many of there selections such as Three Philosopers, Witte, Hennepin, and now Neon Riot just to name a few.
Hopinionated Rating 4.0/5.0
Sip or Skip – Sip
Community Reviews & Comments
- epicbills: Insanely smooth beer for 7.7%. Tastes like mango juice and River Brewing company had a baby. Fruity, light, yet with a hint of hops. Insanely good!
- BeerAndGasMasks: From the pint can, it pours a milky light amber color with a modest, soon diminishing, white head. The nose gets a citrusy scentwith some candy scents to it. The mouth gets a big beer flavor with notes of tropical fruits, maybe some candy sugar and some. Different take on a double IPA, but good.
- ttoadee: Milky medium gold pour, head is strong out of the can but disappears in the glass. Nose offers tropical tempered by Belgian yeast.
- Taste brings pineapple, mango, unripe apricot, tart tangerine, spicy Belgian yeast, little melon. Fairly full mouthfeel. Finish has a dank citrus zing, with dry lingering spices. Tasty.
- mrmestopheles: Very complex with notes of tropical stonefruit, mango, and mixed citrus with relatively low bitterness; Belgian esters add a solid degree of clove and coriander-like spice and pear with mild berry notes; virtually no head retention or lacing.
- TannerH: A fun juicy IPA, hits just right with the juicy and hops and has a clean after taste with just a little fizz imo, would recommend as a juicy ipa and would drink again!
- AJ: Hazy, bright, and unique belgian yeast flavor. Winner.
- Prison City Brewery review of their recent collaboration with Ommegang and others here.
Explore Similar Beers To Neon Riot
- Houblon Chouffe (Brasserie d’Achouffe): A 9% ABV Belgian IPA that brilliantly balances American hop bitterness with classic, clove-and-fruit Belgian yeast.
- Flying Dog Raging Bitch: An 8.3% ABV Belgian-style IPA featuring big, assertive American hop character backed by spicy, fruity Belgian yeast.
- Ommegang Neon Rainbows: While a New England-style IPA, this offers a similar bright, juicy hop punch without the traditional Belgian yeast, and comes from the same brewery.
- New Belgium Trippel: While technically a Belgian Tripel, it shares a similar robust malt base, fruity esters, and a higher hop bitterness that aligns well with Neon Riot’s bold flavor profile.
- Duvel Tripel Hop Citra: A 9.5% ABV powerhouse. It marries Duvel’s signature dry, spicy, and effervescent Belgian foundation with aggressive Citra dry-hopping.
- Great Divide Collette: A farmhouse ale that shares the dry, silky mouthfeel, subtle spice, and tropical hop qualities of a great Belgian-style ale.
Have you had a chance to try Neon Riot? If so, let us know what you think about it and we’ll include your comment in our Community Reviews and Comments section.
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Cheers!
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