Odell Double Pilsner

Brewed by Odell Brewing Company
Style: European Strong Lager
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Bottled. Beer is a clear pale yellow color with a small, frothy, white, mostly diminishing head. The aroma is delicate, sweet and clean—nice! Malty with a light note of toasted grain; Hoppy with a light herbal note and a trace of sweet grass; Yeasty with a trace of dough; Light-to-moderate notes of honey and a trace sparkle of pineapple. The flavor is moderately-to-heavily bitter, moderate-to-heavily sweet with a long, tummy-warming, lightly astringent, lightly bitter finish. The palate is dead sexy: body is full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation is lively. Bravo!

The aroma was an earthy hop smell. The color was clear golden with a bubbly white head. Taste was sticky, slightly sweet, earthy, and good. I liked this, probably the best pilsener I have ever had. It certainly had an “Imperial” feel to it. I now need to go buy a sixer of this for the old fridge. The only thing that suffers here is drinkability but that is to be expected with a Double Pilsener. Serving type: on-tap Reviewed on: 07-02-2007 16:59:31

Bottle, 8.1%. Clear, shiny yellow colour. Very small head. Quite malty, slightly bonbony, nice and peppery. Low to medium bitterness. Slightly sweet. Very nice and soft.

This brew poured clear, bright gold, almost tinted green, with a thin, quickly dissipating off white head. Aromas of alcohol, sweet and yeasty; lightly spicey hops and heavy bread notes. The palate is medium to syrupy. Delicious flavor or sweet malts and a bit of pepper. Very warming.

Tasted on tap at the 2006 Pizza Port Strong Ale Fest. This Imperial Pilsner (?) pours a light gold color. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is cereal and grainy, a touch fruity and sweet. A medium to full bodied pilsner. Malts are fruity and sweet, with a touch of cereal and grain. Hops are slightly and a touch earthy. Nice pilsner, lots of body and mouthfeel, crisp and clean. A touch sweet, but only at the finish. Hides the alcohol very well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Bottled. Poured wonderfully clear, nice neat head that stayed for quite a while. Crisp hops, nice malty sweetness, very evident alcohol. Well balanced. One of the best from this brewery in quite a while IMO.

Wow, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. Pours very light pale yellow with active carbonation with a good sized white head. The aroma has lots of pils malt that is smooth with lots of grassiness, some spice and sourdough malt - very fresh. Medium / full body that is very slick with some semi-soft carbonation. The flavor starts with very bready malt along with clean grassiness, spiced hops and some herbal traits, but the herbal aspect actually works here. The finish has lots of spicy hops, more grass, slight ABV warmth, but for 8% it is quite well hidden. Thumbs up for this very well crafted beer from Odell.

12oz bottle from Crosling, drunk on 1/25/07, thanks Nick!
Hell of an appearance on this one! A huge, fairly dense cream-colored head rises up quickly atop a mostly clear (beer is bottle conditioned) maize-golden body with ample, tiny-bubbled carbonation. Head recedes slowly, never falling below cover, though, and leaving profuse amounts of webby lacing.
Wow, a lot going on in the nose. All at once, you’re hit with distinctly authentic European lager yeast (czech pils at least if not another) which produces crisp apples and other minerals. True-to-style European hops are well-integrated, adding bright acidity and plenty of raw, aromatic, wet, green grass. Strong herbal notes arise as well and sink slowly and evenly in to an assertive, but not dominant or brash maltiness that is full of honey, warm sourdough baguette and a touch of dry biscuits. Smells absolutely delicious, but rather strong as well (not surprisingly). Warming releases more and more yeast notes, light apple and mineral notes are omnipresent but the dry, herbal hops remain somewhat stronger than the yeast. A fair amount of acidity seems to perk up on the finish, as well. No alcohol vapors, very clean, which is a great thing about strong lagers vs. strong ales (when they’re done correctly). Medium-high to high aroma strength and very sniffable.
Sumptuous pils malt mixes with crisp, grassy and surprisingly quite bitter hoppiness to provide stunning balance. Yeast is very crisp on the end, biting even, as it should be, with sourish grains and moderate doughiness setting in on to the palate as it progresses. Maybe a bit too much sourness/acidity builds up and there are some rough, biscuity/grainy edges, but for a lager of this strength, I’ve shocked by its drinkability. Contributing to this most primarily are its wonderful attenuation and natural carbonation which is highly tolerable and engaging. Knock out some of the excessive sourdough notes and maybe even take it a little more dry (it can never be too dry!). Substantial texture, but light enough to keep with a drinkable nature. Alcohol very well masked. Great intro to this brewery!