Odell Imperial Stout

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

Incredible stout, this beer alone turned my wimp friend into a dark-beer lover. Dark and full of flavor, but light and carbonated enough to avoid the soy-sauce problem of some imperials.

Surprisingly good imperial stout by a great local brewery. Rich but smooth and light bodied for a stout. Nice palate with caramel notes. No funky aftertaste. I haven’t had a lot of stouts other than the more prototypical Irish stouts like Guinness, Beamish and Murphy’s and the ever faithful Samuel Smith imperial and oatmeal stouts. But I think this one is top notch for an American micro. It’s a limited release – so if you can get some I would highly recommend it.

Pours heavy. Dark. Nice stout aroma. Very full flavour that melts into a subtle sweet finish, then lingers on the tongue with... with a... not sure what that is. Maybe something left over from my dental appointement today? A good beer, I like it a lot, but not the overpowering flavour shock and drunkenness you expect from an Imperial. And I definitely won’t be paying $9.99 for a six pack again. :O !

Bottled (Thanks heemer77!). Pitch black colour, mediumsized brown creamy head. Lacing. Aroma is roasted malts, some smoked wood, coffee and dark dry fruits. Flavour is very much the same with very toffeeish hints. Very roasted and smoked aftertaste. Also some slight salted licorace. Really lovely.

12oz bottle. Thick black and opaque. Slight web of bone white head. Chocolate fudge nose. Sweet malty notes. Layered sweet malt notes. Vanilla and chocolate cake. Sticky and lingering. Slight coffee and bittersweet chocolate. This is good. As it warms, the coffee roast really starts to shine through. Toasty malty. Tasty! This is just plain good...as expected!

Bottle. Poured a very dark black kinda thin with a nice tan head. Aroma of nothing but coffe. Taste is nice and warmy with coffe and malt.

The body was very black with a light brown colored head. The aroma was rich with strong notes of hot cocoa and some vanilla. This also reminds me of fresh chocolate chip cookies. The taste had some notes of light coffee with some high quality milk chocolate. There is a hint of cinnamon spice and anise. This is nicely down and well balanced. I appreciate that Odell likes to make drinkable and smooth beers. This is no exception. Bravo.

This one came to my though the generosity of Heemer77. It’s a very attractive stout w/ big sheets of tan lacing. This is a lower gravity imperial stout and certainly drinks like it--reminds me of the days of yore when imperial stouts didn’t rip your nards off and weigh sixteen hundred pounds per ounce. It’s a simple, smooth brew but very tasty. Loads of chocolate complimented by a nice malty sweetness and just enough bitterness to balance. The palate works well w/ this w/ its gentle carbonation and a slight twinge lactic acid to keep things interesting. At this particular moment, I’m finding myself wishing more breweries would employ a lighter touch w/ their big beers.