Freya's Gold - Odin Brewing Company

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.9/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Poured a straw yellow color with good carbonation and a small white head

S: Smelled of grains, floral hints and lighter hops

T: Starts out with a sweet crispness, some butter, grains, light hops, floral and citrus

M: Lighter bodied with almost a buttery feel, not as crisp as the draft version I had but still good

D: Very good, low abv lets you drink several and its tasty so why not?

Serving type: growler

06-26-2010 14:17:40 | More by barleywinefiend

DefenCorps

Oregon

2.4/5  rDev -34.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.25

On tap at Chucks. My first exposure to this brewery.

Pouring a clear golden yellow with a dense white head that falls off leaving little lace in my mason jar, this looks fine. The nose, though, is anything but. It brings to mind the Nader Sadek song, Sulfer. A kolsch should have none, but this has a ton. In addition, the malt and hop character are poor. The hops, particularly, are way too low, without the soft bitterness and flavor the beer needs. The malt is rather simple too. This is the same story on the palate. Sulfur, insufficient hops, and over-attenuated, this feels thin, lifeless and watery. A piss-poor interpretation of the style.

Serving type: on-tap

03-10-2013 08:15:02 | More by DefenCorps

smakawhat

Maryland

3.65/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a Gaffel Kolsch stange glass.

A real simple but very nice brassy golden/bronze body, clear with some mix of rising cola fast carbonation and slow rising pin head bubbles. White rock head settles nicely and slowly, with some ring like lacing. Very beautiful looking Kolsch.

Nose hits with a nice ripping grain, dry, with a mix of balanced sourness. Light and airy, a little musty also with a hint of earth. Bouquet smells very inviting.

Palate is intensely crispy and dry. So dry that it feels like drinking a bucket of ice. Finish is very grassy hop with a lingering dry bitterness. Malt presence is very hammered down with this finishing almost pine like hop blast, going to earth and grass.

Overall this is not really a bad Kolsch, but it really needs that bready bakery finish of malt to just bring it out.

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2012 19:57:11 | More by smakawhat

RedDiamond

Oregon

4.38/5  rDev +20%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Odin detours the kölsch style away from its more traditional dry qualities in favor of a defining residual sweetness. The beer is uncommonly pale sunshine yellow with filtered clarity and a beaming white head. Fruitbowl aromas emerge with a note or two of sulfur - enough to define Freya as a kölsch even with one's eyes closed. It is clean finishing with a light sweetness hinting at ginger. A refreshing summer beer and ideal food companion.

Serving type: on-tap

02-28-2010 04:57:40 | More by RedDiamond

flagmantho

Washington

3.85/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had a pint of this on tap at Hooverville in Seattle.

Appearance: clear, medium golden hue with one finger of foamy white head. Seems a bit darker than a lot of Kölsches I've had, but still pretty nice looking.

Smell: light malt with earthy hops and some unidentifiable fruity-spicy aroma. Not sure what this is supposed to be; not really authentic to a Kölsch but not entirely unpleasant, either.

Taste: dry malty flavor with medium bitterness and earthy hops. The weird aroma I got is not present in the flavor at all. Overall, a pretty solid example of the style.

Mouthfeel: medium light body with medium carbonation. Not bad; it works for me.

Drinkability: light, slightly hoppy, entirely refreshing. I would have this again.

Serving type: on-tap

07-15-2010 05:12:04 | More by flagmantho

canucklehead

British Columbia (Canada)

4.53/5  rDev +24.1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

First beer from this brewer and by the freshness of the nose it must have come straight from the brewery ( Their beers have only showed up in Vancouver in the last week). I love the fresh brewery smell that stayed till the last drop. The fresh hop notes and the citrus flavours really showed off how great this style can be for session drinking. I will buy other beers from Odin on the basis of how they treated a underappreciated style.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2012 16:19:34 | More by canucklehead

KTCamm

New Jersey

4.3/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22 ounce bomber into a perfect pint glass. Pours pure gold with very light haze and a good 1/4 inch thick head of creamy foam. Active bubbles. Pleasant floral smell. Extremely clean flavorful light bodied taste with a hidden hop that emerges halfway through. Good carbonation. Expertly balanced, light, full on flavor.

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2012 19:36:27 | More by KTCamm

KajII

North Carolina

3.38/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

[Best served in a Kölsch glass]

The pour was a clear pale gold in color with a huge (3-4 finger) white fluffy head that was mostly diminishing and had some fair sticky lacing.

The aroma was of light grain and straw malts, floral and grassy hops and a funky soapy yeast, and had a hint of spice and a mild citrus (lemon) presence.

The taste had a nice light crisp grainy malt flavor with a very mild, almost undetectable citrus note early on, with the taste becoming mildly bitter and a tad hoppy and having just a bit of spiciness at the end. The flavor lasted a short time proceeding the swallow with a slight mild bitterness left behind.

Mouthfeel was light in body with a watery texture and a tickly carbonation.

Overall a very nice tasting Kölsch, that had a nice bold flavor with a slightly mild bitterness. This was an extremely enjoyable and satisfying brew for this style...

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2012 19:08:23 | More by KajII

philbertk

Washington

3.48/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Odin Brewing Company--Freya's Gold--Kolsch Style Ale--2011 22 oz. Bottle. 4.50% ABV. 18 IBU's. (3.5 / 5.0) Huge billowy foamy lacy lasting white head. Clear bright fizzy rich pretty gold color. Very delicate light floral malt ester minimal hop aroma. Thin mild sweet dry crisp slightly CO2 tangy light delicate fruit ester slightly grainy pale malt refreshing body. No sediment. Light herbal hop end. Clean refreshing well made balanced slightly tangy Kolsch Ale. Sampled 4/22/2011. Purchased for $4.29 @ The Ballard Market, Seattle on 4/22/2011.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2011 20:35:24 | More by philbertk

hreb

Washington

2.75/5  rDev -24.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

22oz bomber, pint glass, cold. Straw yellow with thin white head that rapidly subsides. Big bubbles rising to the surface. Faint skunky / german lager aroma.

Nearly without flavor. Grassy hops. Subtly bitter aftertaste. Well, I *did* just get done mowing the lawn. I don't remember Kölsch being this bland. Oh well, no offensive flavors, and totally drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2011 21:23:44 | More by hreb

CookstLiquor

British Columbia (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +16.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 650ml bottle. Pours a bright straw gold colour. The nose has lots of cereal grain notes and subtle fruit. On the palate, this is about as refreshing, crisp and well-balanced as a beer can get. It's the ale equivalent to a Czech pils. It's clean, with a bit of cereal/biscuit notes, and a pleasant lingering hoppiness. With a low ABV, you could drink this all summer.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2012 22:49:14 | More by CookstLiquor

natemort13

California

3.73/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a straw yellow with hints of light gold. White head settles quickly to a cab. Not a ton of bubbles coming up through the glass.

Nose is a little bit of hay, crisp bready malt, hints of grass and caramel.

Taste is bready with a slight metallic feel on the finish. Crisp pilsener malt. More hay. Pairs well with my sushi.

MF is crisp and tingly. Medium light.

Overall this is a decent kolsch, some astringency that needs to be taken care of. Good with light fare.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2012 02:24:55 | More by natemort13

MisterLucky

4.35/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I should start by mentioning I had this beer onsite at the Brewery in the South Park business park neighborhood of Seattle. Give Odin a call and make an appointment and confirm it day of, they're happy to have visitors, but their schedules vary. There's no formal tasting room anymore, but we managed to show up on a Friday afternoon and meet some of the brewers, had a taste of everything and the usual tour, I say "usual" not because it wasn't cool, just because once you've seen one commercial brewing vat you've seen most of them. Their bottling machine looks like a science project.

Ok, the beer:

Freya's Gold is Kolsch Style Ale. What does that mean? In basic English it means they put some Pacific Northwest touches on the classic Kolsch.

Plenty of people have reasons they wouldn't like this beer, but in context, it's the middle of summer and I was looking for a good, lighter, session beer. This was perfect. I actually liked the subtlety of Freya's Gold. I got from the first hit of malt and citrus notes of the middle through a clean, crisp, "almost hoppy" finish without ever feeling like it wasn't summer. It's exactly what I want in the sun for an afternoon grilling session. How long does that sun last in Seattle? I'm hoping for at least another week.

Serving type: on-tap

08-08-2012 17:25:45 | More by MisterLucky