Odell Cutthroat Porter

Brewed by Odell Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Had several of these on tap in New Mexico. I had low expectations and was floored! This is a genuine full-roast, smoky, tasty porter. The malts are smooth and not too sweet and the hops are nicely balanced so that it all ends well. Thin mouth feel and it could be more complex, but this thing was served on tap next to Budweiser and other macro brews at my hotel and I was stunned. Tastes like a a true to form micro brew.

Pours dark brown and has small tan head. The smell is a deep smoky roast that transports one to a pine campfire at the edge of the woods along a great trout stream. (Or is it just my imagination, runnin’ away with me . . . ). This is a truly smoky porter and tastes like like a hearty breakfast complete with bacon, biscuits and good camp java. This satisfies the palate with a creamy texture and and a fulfilling presence on the tongue. Great porter.

Bottle, BB 12/20/07. Poured deep, clear, reddish iced-tea brown with a very short-lived cap of tan head that receded to loose bubbles almost instantaneously. The aroma picked up lots of well-roasted molasses and black patent malts with lesser coffee and dark fruity notes.. warmth brought out toasty grains and a nice complement of chocolate, but I found a bit too much simple sugarage in there. The flavor began with moderately-roasted cola and sweeter chocolate notes with a bit of coffee bitterness.. cocoa powder, a little molasses, and more cola sweetness on the finish.. sweet and enjoyable overall. Light-medium bodied and sweet on the palate with lower carbonation.. decent feel. Not great, but I’d have another.

Bottle.

Pours very dark, near black, with a nice tan head. Roasty coffee-and-malt aroma, dark bitter coffee in the flavor, very slightly sweet, a bit ashy. Thin mouthfeel. Entirely drinkable, but somewhat one-dimensional.

On nitro at the Tap Room, Steamboat Springs, CO. Nitro serving brings out a great cascading appearance in the glass, with a nice smokey roasted malt aroma with some yeast and chocolate coffee too. Good amount of hops bitterness in the aroma, by far my favorite aspect of the brew. Taste is a bit less impressive, comprised mostly of chocolate and smoked malt. Finishes easy with the low ABV, a pleasure to finish a pint of the stuff. Not bad!

Nice deep brown with a fluffy tan head. Lots of dark chocolate and toast in the aroma, slight caramel. A nice roasty-toasty malt flavor with hints of coffee and faint apple-like fruitiness. Kinda thin and perfumey finish.

An extremely roasty aroma with some light coffee maybe. This is really quite nice. Not sweet, a solid roasty flavor throughout, it’s easy to drink and consume en masse.

Not opaque, but impossible to peer through. The body is a quiet, deep, dark chocolate with underlying ruby hints. The nose is loaded with fresh cocoa and soft and complex roasted grains. Also noted are caramel, raisins, light smoke and hints of molasses. I love the complexity of the malt in this, with nods towards graham and light floral hops. The flavor is excellent. Chocolate is accompanied by raisins and other dark fruits, as well as vinous and even vanilla character. Sweetness is medium-high to high but the flavor and mouthfeel is so smooth it’s no burden at all - it’s actually complimentary and stresses the loveliness of the dark fruit. Bitterness is low, floral hops providing a unique perfumed outline to each sip and blossoming into an essence of dramaticism in the long and chocolatey finish. Caramel and raisin notes linger on. The mouthfeel is carbonated perfectly, flavor dispersion on the palate executed well. The body is medium and velvety.