Odell Imperial Stout

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

In the bottle at the 2006 Crescent Moon Extreme Beerfest. Pours black with a thin light brown head. Aroma has a trace of anise, perhaps. Definitely big on the roasted coffee aroma and even some woodiness. This beer has a smokey, coffee flavor. It is a bit too thin in body to be legendary. The finish is the best part: a long, long bitter roastedness that lingers on the sides of the back of your tongue forever.

Pours black with a small brown head. Aroma is earthy, toasted bread, some chocolate, and some roasted notes. Flavor is chalky chocolate with some coffee. Hints of potting soil mixed in. Mildly bitter dry finish. Chalky body.

Pretty nice on the whole, very characterful, although I’m not blown away by it. Starts with a deep garnet-black color and a nice full creamy beige head and soft lacing. Aroma mildly acrid with soured chocolate milk and light roast malt. There is perhaps an element of light citric or grassy hop in there. Nice medium-full mouthfeel, with a good chocolate, coffee and roast beginning. Not in the least overtly sweet, although a tinge of caramel and acidity rise through the middle, leaving a slightly acidic and dry finish. Very well built, modest strength and robustness, but thats very OK by me. I just feel there could be a little more depth, and I think the acidity might detract somewhat.

in bottle. cola brown with a beige head. sweet roasted flavor with a long palate. not a true imperial in my opinion - more of a cousin of the duchess stout.

Aged one year: Black with chestnut hues. Dense grayish foam holds well. Strong whiff of roasted barley and coffee accompany hints of charcoal, cocoa, chocolate mousse, figs, and burnt cookies. Soft effervescence. Bottle conditioned. Lightly bodied. Quite airy and grainy initially, but with enough residual depth to soften the grainy blow. Beefy java and molasses pillar the body, as the snappy char wipes the palate clean with an ashen dryness. Smooth edge of roasted barley curtails the graininess and imparts a feathery softness. Very little complementary vinousness, though. Nutty malts, juicy licorice and coffee mirror the smoky roast and dryly charred finale. About as straightforward as they come. Far too thin, shallow and not vinous enough (especially for an Imperial).

12oz stamped 2007 1, whatever that means. Pours deep brown--black in the glass--with a ring of tan head. Aroma is roasty coffee and unsweetened cocoa. Digging a little deeper I get some moist potting soil, and that’s about it. Flavor is much the same with a bit of char. Dry finish, moderate bitterness midway through. Medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Very bland and boring--I don’t see how this is getting such high ratings.

Pours a very dark brown, nearly black, with a one finger dense head that settles slowly to a soapy cap. The subsequent lacing is sticky and fairlty thick. Smell; very roasty, with dark earthy malts and coffee and mild hints of chocolate. There’s also some hints of cola in the aroma, with some touches of hops. Taste; the roasted malts and coffee flavors are very dominant in the flavor profile as it was in the aroma. The earthiness is present as well, along with a bit of bitter hops, followed by a little sweet chocolate. Mouthfeel/Drinkability; on the first couple of sips (when this was wtill a bit to cool) it seemed a little thin, but once this started to warm the mouthfeel seemed to thicken a bit. Drinkability is pretty good. This may not be a great example of an Imperial Stout, but it’s a noble effort by Odell, and I hope they continue to break out some new beers.

Oddly, I have had this beer many many times and never rated it so the following is from fading memories... Originally enjoyed on tap (at Choice City); bottles were not as rewarding but still very enjoyable. Pitch black with light thin head. Varied aroma of sweet coffee and chocolate malt tones. Smooth chocolate malt flavor with smooth finish. Very good stout!