Odell Imperial Stout

Bottle (12oz). Shared by blankboy. Pretty much opaque black pour, no light against the daylight getting through - average creamy mottle tan/beige head. Odd aroma - not much malt or alcohol, lots of fruit, cola and woodsmoke. The taste is very oily - creosote and molasses, burnt candy sugar and vodka - oddly I like it, even though it’s not much of an impy.

Bottled. Poured deep brown with a very nice initial cap of tan head. The aroma picked up a great deal of roast with soy, star anise, and unclassifiable black malts.. these notes supported wafts of fresh pine and floral notes. The flavor is led by the same soy and anise notes with green coffee beans, pine, and herbal bitterness.. sticky at the finish, and I did wasn’t the biggest fan of the chosen maltage. Thicker-bodied with lower carbonation (still prickly at times).. bitterness was moderate and not necessarily complementary.. alcohol remains masked save for a few brief shining moments at the finish. This was just OK.

12oz bottle. Pours dark but thin with a fizzy carbonated light colored head. Produces aromas of malt, chocolate, cherry. and slightly sour. Tastes of bitter chocolate and a sour cherry-like finish. Fairly simple palate that lacks the complexity one would anticipate in an "Imperial Stout". Not impressive but good. Taste improves slightly when rested after opening.

On tap at brewery. Pours jet black with little head. Sweetish, then syrupy, then sour. Some smokey flavor. Bitterness is lost. Seems to lack some cohesion of flavors. Very good, but a little disappointed in this one.

Very dark with nice thick creamy head. Bitter chocolate flavor. Dark through and through. I’m not a huge stout fan, but it’s not bad.