Woodcut No. 3 - Oak Aged Crimson Ale - Odell Brewing Company

FosterJM

California

4.1/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

783rd Review on BA
Bottle to Snifter
750ml C/C

@Woodshop Classix
Thanks to Kyle for sharing!

App- A darker muddled brown pour with a 1-1/2” finger of light pancake batter looking head. A good stick and a little bit of leg to it.

Smell- After having the #2, this one is more oaky and not as apples but more dark fruits and malt driven. Quite a bit better on the nose.

Taste- A very well done strong ale. A lot of things are going on but retain a balance and symmetry to this beer. A malt driven strong with some sweetness from caramel and other sugars. Big amounts of the oak impart flavors and keep this a big beer.

Mouth- Medium bodied and medium carbonated. A lot of oak and malt sweetness remain on this one. Quite a chewy feel to it.

Drink- A much better effort on 3 vs 2. This one was much more enjoyable. A bigger beer with rounded flavors and more punch.

Serving type: bottle

08-31-2011 17:28:53 | More by FosterJM

claspada

New Jersey

4.19/5  rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Shoutout to G311 for providing this in trade last week for our in-person PA swap.
The beer pours a nice thick looking amber color with a thick frothy off-white head that slowly fades to lacing. Aromas begin with, no surprise wood barrel with nice caramel maltiness; smells a little like malt extract for you homebrewers. As it warms you get the nice nuances of the barrel, mainly vanilla and a little spice (could also be from the hops but after 2 years I'm guessing not).
The tastes begin with nice maltiness; caramel and breadiness. The oak comes in next but this is by no means a wood bomb after almost 2 years in the bottle. As it warms you get more very pleasant mellow flavors of vanilla, some toffee, darker caramels, and a little hint fruitiness (raisin and a little apple). This is really drinking smooth right now; as you continue to sip further little barrel influenced flavors pop out one by one on your palate (brown sugar and orange if you can believe that). The mouthfeel is great at well; the barrel aging helps to dry out the full caramel and bready malt body and temper the ABV sweetness. This is one of my favorite kind of beers; one that is full bodied WITH ample carbonation.
Overall this is my first experience with the Woodcut series but I know it won't be my last now. I love the wood character and how it is not too in your face. Beers like this aren't meant to be consumed fresh, but after a year or so to allow the barrel to full integrate with the bottle conditioning and properly mellow/combine flavors. Not a drop of alcohol taste which is amazing for any beer over 10%. Not sure if it warrants a $25+ price tag, but these barrel beers aren't cheap to make so it's worth it when they are winners like No. 3 here.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2011 23:02:51 | More by claspada

ritzkiss

Ontario (Canada)

4.03/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml corked and caged bottle in a trade from forgetfu I believe - thanks man, incredibly generous! From notes.

Pours a dark brown with ruby and orange highlights, touch of haze, two fingers off white head settles to a thin ring and layer around the glass, looks good.

Smell reveals lots of wood/oak from the barrel, light astringency, caramel, some biscuit and honey, touch of booze. Taste is similar, big and oaky, caramel, vanilla, astringent wood, light spicy, biscuit, honey, boozy through the middle, a bit of light fruitiness, some berries, bitter spicy finish, but mostly balanced. Medium body, low to med. carbonation, hides the ABV well, drinkable for its weight. Heavy on the barrel but not really the worse for wear on it, not overly complex but quite tasty - enjoyed!

Serving type: bottle

06-28-2011 16:35:30 | More by ritzkiss

trappistlover

Arizona

3.68/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

(750ml bottle from AJ’s Via Linda. Bottle #1313, Nov. 2009). Pours cloudy mahogany with khaki head. Nice lacing. Aroma is strong oak, biscuit and grain. Taste is sweet with more wood. Medium to full bodied with oily texture. Fizzy on the tongue. Not bad at all. Normally I don't liked oaked beers, but this one is decent. Steep price @ $25/bottle, though.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2011 07:59:22 | More by trappistlover

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

3.78/5  rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml corked and caged bottle, thanks to ritzkiss for bringing over!

Pours a mostly clear ruby red, some orange highlights, a touch of haze, medium sized off white head forms and settles to a thin ring and layer around the glass, very bright, looks pretty nice.

Smell is neat, lots of wood/oak in the nose, fresh barrel, some vanilla, light astringency, caramel, very malty, some biscuit and honey, brown sugar, a bit boozy in the nose but 11% was well hidden I thought, a little simplistic but nice.

Taste is similar, big and oaky, caramel, vanilla, astringent wood, light spicy, biscuit, honey, boozy through the middle, a bit of light fruitiness, some berries, bitter spicy finish, but mostly balanced.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with low to medium carbonation. A nice strong ale. Oak is a touch overdone but the ABV is well hidden. Simple but pretty good, thanks Eric!

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2011 17:08:32 | More by Viggo

DefenCorps

Oregon

2.58/5  rDev -35%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Blech.

A nice color, this is crimson with a dense, off white head. The nose is intensely lumber-like intensely oak, rather spicy, with some vanilla and plenty of raisins. The palate opens with a blend of raisins, alcohol and oak dust. Oak continues on the mid-palate, with some vanilla, wood and more wood. Sweet,syrupy and raisiny on the finish, this full bodied beer is a real disappointment.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2011 04:17:58 | More by DefenCorps

DavoleBomb

Ohio

4.4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a snifter. November 2009, bottle #7496.

4.5 A: Deep amber color. Two fingers of creamy beige head with great retention and glass covering lacing. Great!

4.0 S: Lumberyard amounts of oak. Really, it's unthinkably intense, but it somehow isn't overbearing. Lots of vanillins in there as well. It's hard to smell anything past the oak, but it seems like there's a decent caramel backbone to this. Otherwise clean with somewhat sweet neutral maltiness.

4.5 T: Delicious! Solid strong ale flavors - caramel, toffee to an extent, and lots of fruitiness with plum, peach, fig, and maybe a touch of raisin. Again, tons of oak in this and tons of vanilla to accompany.

4.5 M: Heavier medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Excellently creamy without being too chewy. Goes down very easy.

4.5 D: Very good beer. I haven't had this fresh, but I'm pretty sure that time has brought improvement. I think if this was any oakier, it might be intolerable, but as it stands right now, it's pretty damn good.

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2011 01:53:08 | More by DavoleBomb

brentk56

North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bottle No. 5175

Appearance: Pours a burnished amber color with a prominent head that leaves a ton of lacing behind in the chalice

Smell: Golden raisins, apple, toffee, cinnamon and a hint of marmalade

Taste: Opens with a caramel apple and golden raisin character that adds some spice cake elements; by mid-palate, the hops emerge, bringing a piney, marmalade bitterness; after the swallow, the flavors meld together very nicely with the oak providing a woody aspect to the finish

Mouthfeel: Full bodied but a bit overcarbonated

Drinkability: A very nice strong ale that has mellowed nicely over the past year

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2011 01:01:47 | More by brentk56

Bubba83

California

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured at around 50 degrees into a New Belgium Globe. Thanks to my dad for sending this out to me for my birthday present.

Appears dark brown, and a bit murky in nature. Light brown/tan two finger width head is super fluffy and fine. Retention is awesome and it laces fairly well too. Pretty good looking, but the color isn't the liveliest.

A big vanilla note permeates all the way through the nose. Some cherry alcoholic aromas waft out of the glass freely. Some cinnamon stick, orange peel, and coriander can also be noticed, similar to smelling a spiced cider on a Wintery holiday. Overall I dig it.

This beer has a lot of character. It's very big and bold, and the oak is very apparent. I respect that in a beer. It reminds me a bit of Lukcy Basartd from Stone, but it's got a bit more spice going on, and it's less hoppy. The flavor profile is a little more sweet than I like. Big liquid fruitcake type flavor, alcoholic cherries and vanilla are present again. Cinnamon is again present, and I even get a bit of ginger as well. It's odd how you pick out flavors in a beer that you've eaten recently in food. I had sushi tonight and had some slices of the pickled ginger there.

Mouthfeel is pretty good. It's pretty big and chewy, but I'd say it's a bit overcarbonated for as big as it is. I'd rather it be a little smoother on my tongue for the thickness.

Considering the cherry component is such a big part of the flavor profile, it actually incorporates nicely and drinks pretty decently. I just wish it had some bigger hop presence for balance, and was a little bit easier to palate overall.

Serving type: bottle

02-20-2011 05:26:38 | More by Bubba83

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.43/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Caged and corked 750, bottle #5487 from Nov 2009 - Dark chestnut meets darker mahogany, dim and opaquely set in the glass with a nearly black appearance in most light with it pulling some of its dark brown rustyness across its expanse. A dusty, light brown foam grows quickly and very thickly, setting hefty and high, leveling off slowly, leaving a wall of lace across the glass and finally reaching a nice solid waft of skim. Gorgeous!

Nice aroma of deeply set and dark malted overtones that alude to its oaky base without being overly powerful and burning any nose hairs. Maple-y sweet, vanilla spiced, largely oaky with nice darkly sweetened depth. Some dark orangeyness, golden raisin goo, currants, molasses poke thru, a bit of coconut milk, and a light bakery goodness of caramel rolls dashed with cinnamon. But boy does the oak and maple stand out nice and heavy.

Taste is a bit less on the mapley stuff then the aroma elludes too while gathering more of its malty core with a good portion of sticky dark stuff; molasses, caramel, currant, raisin, dates, splash of vanilla, a few pinches of brown sugar, spiced with warming tropical oakyness of orange marmalade, some cinnamon, dry piney hops and dry leafyness is specked about in the warmth. The maple pulls thru later into its huge amazingly lasting chewy awesome finish. Wow, does this stuff have some stick to it! And then another layer of light drying spices warms it up just a nudge more...

Feel starts with a light tang of pale and caramel malt, fairly clean and medium, but it gains a whole new level of chewy smooth thickness as it warms ever so slightly with its oaky nuances and spices. The finish lasts forever and a day with a mega chewy stick as does it belly warming 11% while spiked way in the back with a tingly dusty dryish spice.

Just gotta love the Woodcut Series from Odell. These suckers are awesome big beers of yummyness, craftitude, and sipability.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2011 01:18:18 | More by tavernjef

dragonWhale

New York

3.38/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

bottle from a trade in the great land of Colorado. Enjoyed (responsibly) on Sunday of the Wood Aged Weekend. Now, perhaps I would've enjoyed this beverage more if I'd saved it for some other time, but I think putting into my body thusly has framed it appropriately.
Dark amber in my baby chali. Big oak, some sweet malt and caramel. Not too much else, and not exceptionally impressive. Not bad either! In fact, the alcohol and oak bind together well and create a dry balance to the sweetness of the malt. However, comparing this to the other delicacies of the weekend, it just falls a bit short.
Goot effort, my Odellian friends.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2010 08:12:52 | More by dragonWhale

Jacobpaul81

Indiana

3.93/5  rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

750 mL bottle -poored into pint glasses, 10/27/2010

A: Pours dark red amber, light tan head that holds up. Light lacing

S: Very Fragrant, mostly wood smells. I get a mixing of pine and oat. Some sweet malt smells, mostly toffee but not strong.

T: Tastes like a Barleywine or a amber beer mixed with brandy. Strong Red Malt character that finishes with some spicey hops that sit on the tongue. Very heavy woody flavor to it that holds throughout beer. Alcohol is a little strong.

M: Medium-bodied with subtle carbonation. Not an overpowering beer.

D: Very Good beer. A dessert beer for sure, not something you're going to want for your daily session drink of choice, but this was very impressive.

Notes: I think this one will be better aged. It's bottle conditioned and with the 11% ABV, it should become far more favorable.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2010 20:33:02 | More by Jacobpaul81

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Reviewed from notes.

Pours a moderate amber-crimson color with a bit of a white head. Nose brings forward some light oak as well as some caramel, dark fruits, and a bit of vanilla. The taste is mostly oak with some mild oak and a bit of dark fruits and sweetness. Moderate feel with a bit of alcohol. Drinks alright, but isn't all that flavorful and I'm not sure the base beer--whatever it was--really benefited too much from the oak aging.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2010 14:50:21 | More by Thorpe429

pokesbeerdude

Colorado

4.03/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I've had this for a while, not sure where I got it, but like the other Woodcuts, around $25, into my Odell flute/tulip.

A: As the name suggests, deep red in color with a light khaki head, about 3 fingers worth or so, not much head retention, as it recedes to a small cap. Excellent gobs of lacing on the edge of the glass. Slightly cloudy.

S: This has a lot of caramel malt and fresh cut oak, which mixes to make a slightly fruity nose, think red apples, smells a lot like a nice oak aged barleywine. The oak doesn't impart the vanilla profile that was noticeable in the first two woodcuts, but has a more raw wood flavor.

T: Smooth malty profile, a huge malt bomb, flavors of caramel and slightly burnt malt, along with a huge wood note on the end of it. This is a very sticky and sweet beer as well, not much in the way of bitterness, and surprisingly at 11%, not much in the way of booze either. There are many layers of depth from the huge malt profile and wood, and there way in the back is just a hint of hops. Very flavorful.

M: Nicely carbonated, full bodied, and sticky, the oak lends a nice dryness while not thinning the beer out too much. Very nice.

D: Fairly easy to drink, but like the first two in the serious, very sweet. This is definitely a dessert beer, but a good fit for one. Strong flavors, and strong booze hold this back on drinkability, this will probably take me and my girlfriend a while to finish. Still nice, probably not worth the $25 price tag though.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2010 01:23:32 | More by pokesbeerdude

Bbloom1989

Missouri

3.23/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Pours deep amber red and has a yellow off white head. The smell is citrus, spicy and floral, with hints of nutmeg and coriander. The taste reminds me of a molasses cookie that finishes very spicy and warm.

Overall this is a good beer. It is most surly a sipping beer to have with a hearty meal. It is much like wine, too much of it will lend you to forgetting the subtleties of the beer. It is quite complex.

The mouth feel is buzzy by not overly carbonated if poured correctly. The oak is very distinguishable.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2010 03:56:36 | More by Bbloom1989

hardy008

Minnesota

3.98/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Hazy reddish brown with a 3 finger beige head with good lacing. The aroma has caramel, oak, raisins, and almonds.

The beer tastes the same as it smells. It is sweet, with some noticeable alcohol. The caramel and oak come through the strongest, followed by raisins, and perhaps some other dark fruit. Almonds are also present. I wish the oak was not so dominant, but this is still good.

Medium to full bodied, the carbonation is a little too high for my liking. The alcohol is not well hidden. Smooth and nice to drink. A good beer, which I am glad I was able to try.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2010 23:16:02 | More by hardy008

womencantsail

California

3.9/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to Jon for sharing this one. I've had it once or twice before, but I always enjoy revisiting an Odell beer.

A: The pour is, as the name would imply, a reddish amber color with a couple finger's worth of slightly off-white head.

S: The nose is sweet and caramelly from the base beer with some toffee and dark fruits. The oak is still quite present and provides some sweet vanilla and just an overall woodiness.

T: Not quite as much of a "chewing on oak chips" feeling as I remember. Nice and sweet with caramel, toffee, vanilla, and brown sugar as well as some subtle dark fruit notes and a sort of spicy oak flavor.

M: The body is quite full and the carbonation is medium, but certainly lively.

D: You do need to enjoy the oak to like this beer, but luckily, I do. This beer has mellowed nicely and I would not mind trying it again.

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2010 03:20:54 | More by womencantsail

Halcyondays

California

4.45/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750 mL bottle, brought back from AZ, the last of the AZ beers, bottled 11/09, so about 10 months old,

A: Pours a dark amber red, with a medium white head, good retention.

S: Lots of red malt, some aged malt notes, very fragrant.

T: Real heavy barleywine style malt, red crystal malt is big and it tastes great along with a rich oak wood flavour. Moderate hop character, definitely tastes like an aged barleywine.

M: Full-bodied, very smooth, thick, soft carbonation.

D: This is a really good beer, perhaps some age on this helped. I made a big debate in my head of whether I should go for this, glad I did.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2010 05:50:11 | More by Halcyondays

alpinebryant

Connecticut

3.6/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a light brown - I would not say Auburn, but possibly when it was brewed it was lighter and or the color has darkened over time. Large white head that stuck around for a while and laced the glass pretty heavily.

S: Smell of caramelized sugars, dark fruit / plums, light butterscotch, and sweet malt. Not a whole lot of hop presence if any that I can tell.

T: Taste of nice roasted malt, caramelized sugars, oak, dark fruits especially plum in flavors, some peach, and some cotton candy flavored sugar / tropical fruit. Butterscotch flavors also mix nicely with the Caramel malts. Slightly boozy, with peach flavors. Think peach vodka...

M: Relatively thick, I would not say chewy, but for an 11% still relatively thick.

D: Overall pretty enjoyable. I have seen a few people grumbled about the price tag which I can agree with - this one got built up on a trade, so it is a blind price tag, but I wish I had all the beers I traded for it because I know they were not worth this one.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2010 23:40:01 | More by alpinebryant

Goliath

Illinois

3.63/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle # 0970

The beer pours a murky brown color with a huge three inch light tan head. There is great head retention, but no lacing.

the aroma is nice. It's lightly tart with a bit of a citrus note. There's a touch of oak and it's lightly phenolic as well.

The taste is ok. It's got a slightly medicinal quality that is backed by a variety of malt. It's lightly floral as well, and then that oak comes through as well. It finishes off boozey and lightly fruity.

The mouthfeel is pushing full bodied, and rather dull. It's odd because it has a decent carbonation presence with a very fine and natural bubble.

Drinkability is moderate. The flavor profile is interesting, but a bit much to try and consume the 750 by yourself. The ABV is high, but it works in the beer. I guess I'm not terribly impressed overall, and I would definitely say Woodcut #1 was the best of the first 3.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2010 23:46:53 | More by Goliath

FernMaster

Missouri

2.98/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

Poured from the bottle into a Tulip.

There are such a few amount of reviews out there for this beer. I don't know if it's from the price tag alone or from people who buy it refusing to put how disappointing this beer is into words. Time to add one more negative deviation to my review count....

The pour of this beer, aside from the fantastic 2+ fingers worth of head, was foreboding. More so than Hitchcock's opening to Rebbecca. The appearance, in a word, was septic. I feared for my life and grabbed for a knife thinking that the creature from the Black Lagoon was going to pop out at any time and strike. Okay, the lacing was nice. But the creature from the black Lagoon could rip through nice curtains.

The smell was just okay at best. There was caramel, raisins and a decent touch of hops in the mix. The oak barrel aging was noticeable in the smell, but not truly welcome.

The taste. Meh. I've had plenty better in this style, that didn't cost so fucking much too. The mild hop profile blended well with the oak aging and fruit flavors, the raisins, maybe other dark fruits and the caramel again. My buddy noted it's like Bigfoot Ale, we both agreed that that's better though. There's an earthyness to this beer though that probably comes from the oak aging and in this case, I don't think adding it to the barrels truly in the end added a damn thing to the beer. It was more of an unwelcome house guest, one you can't say no to, you wish he was gone, but to keep up appearances you had to grin and bare his presence.

The mouthfeel was okay, it was thick but not overbearing, something you can easily drink and enjoy.

This beer has a Twenty-six dollar price tag on it. That's a lot of freaking money! And I definitly say that it simply is not worth the money. I've had MUCH better beer in this style for a lot less money. This beer is rather pretentious. There's limited quantities, it was aged in oak (for no apparent reason) and comes with a laughable price tag. If a beer was to ever sit in a proverbial ivory tower, this would be it. I wonder if the reviews are so high because people spent so much money on a beer, they want to believe it's good. Who wants to spend this much money and be disappointed? If this beer was say, $8, how much lower would the score be? How much does scarcity and steep prices affect the psyche of the reviewer? How much does it add to the disdain? I can answer that, at least sixteen dollars worth.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2010 04:43:49 | More by FernMaster

Reaper16

Alabama

3.03/5  rDev -23.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

750mL bottle - #5793 - into a tulip glass

Pours a murky, completely opaque shade of poop-ass brown. The body looks really, really ugly. Septic. The head, however? Fantastic. Two and a half fingers of tight, compact foam the color of a pair of Dockers pants. The lacing is textbook. If only the body of the beer were anything other than ass.

This smells a lot like a barleywine. Tons of caramel, tons of bittering hops. Appleskin. Banana. Honeysuckle. Sweet booze. This isn't complex as much as it is rote.

Toasted malt flavors meet caramel malt flavors meet bread crusts meet walnuts. TONS of maltiness. Hops are strongly felt; moreso in bitterness than anything else. A bit of banana, a bit of dried orange. A nice oaky finish. This is pretty nice, if uninspired. Unfortunately, it is a flavor profile that plenty of other beers do better.

The mouthfeel works for me. It has a nice thickness to it with a fairly substantial amount of felt carbonation. The drinkability is awful for me. I mean, it is pretty average for the style but when you consider that this beer is TWENTY SIX DOLLARS a bottle, for a bottle that Sierra Nevada Bigfoot completely outclasses - at $10 a sixpack - in a similar flavor profile.

Is this beer worth the money? Hell no. It is tasty enough; you won't hate it. But you probably won't love it, either.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2010 05:14:01 | More by Reaper16

coldmeat23

Oklahoma

4.35/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

GLASS: Snifter
TEMP: Cellared at approx 55 degrees
BOTTLE NO. 0055 NOV,2009

This is a nice deep shade of auburn, with some crimson tinting. Two-plus fingers worth of creamy, medium tan colored head. The retention is very good and the lacing is in thick strands and spots and is quite sticky.

A nice, rich, maltiness comes from this glass. It is accompanied by a very nice bourbon presence. Lots of toasted coconut, vanilla and buttery oak notes. Light traces of dark fruit sweetness and hints of rich caramels. Light presence of earthy hops.

A good amount of cherries and dark fruit sweetness seems to come forward, first. These are followed by a short hint of earthy hops, then drizzled with some butterey caramel notes. This gives way to light hints of vanilla and toasted oak, which then open-wide to let in the toasted coconut presence. The finish has another short burst of earthiness, which helps maintain the wonderful balance that this beer has.

This has a full body, yet not quite thick. The carbonation level is mild, almost medium. This provides a wonderful smoothness, almost slick, with just a tiny hint of creaminess.

The 11.00%abv of this beer is only hinted at, with a slight warming sensation as it goes down. Other than that, I'd never guess that it was this high in abv content. It is very flavorful and quite nicely balanced.
Very drinkable, indeed. I wish that I could afford to buy more of these.

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2010 19:21:04 | More by coldmeat23

Bitterbill

Wyoming

3.98/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Purchased at Odell Brewing. Bottle number 4434, Nov 2009.

A nice pop upon opening, the beer started rising towards the opening but isn't a threat to gush.

It pours a hazy deep red colour with about a 1 finger head of foam. Lacing is the typical Odell impressive. A great looking beer by my reckoning.

The smell is way nice. Balanced aromas of caramel malt, wood from the oak aging, and a nice fruitiness of plums and raisins. Oh, and a light but right mini zing of hop bitterness. I'm serving this near room temp and the nose of the beer really shines.

The taste has notes of oak, caramel, plums, raisins, a toasted bread flavour, and some minor but efficiently used hop bitterness. The overall flavour comes across as a tempered sweetness and my palate is enjoying it. Good stuff.

Medium bodied, medium carbonation, towards the back end it comes across as on the spritzy side but that's ok.

Drinkability? Plenty of flavour, a bit too carbonated for my tastes at the back end, a growing presence of alcohol, hell this IS an 11%abv offering, I'd say it is still a fairly good drinker. I wish I had some at my beck and call this past Winter. ;^)

All in all, a very enjoyable brew.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2010 18:50:32 | More by Bitterbill

portia99

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml corked and caged bottle courtesy of hoppymcgee. Thanks again Greg for this favorite from the EBF. Shared among 6 BA's and friends. My sister is extremely grateful for this one! Poured into a Dogfish Head signature glass.

A - Cloudy amber brown color with a thin cream colored skim coat of foam that never really goes away. Some nice lacing as the beer level drops.

S - Beautiful woody aroma...tons of oak in here. Nice rich malt smells too, with some caramel, dark fruits, raisins, some alcohol and some malty sweetness. Complex and very enjoyable.

T - Rich malty backbone...some sweetness, breadiness and caramelly notes. This blends really well with the strong woody, oaky flavors here. Alcohol flavor mixes in nicely and only adds the smallest amount of heat. This is really smooth.

M - Medium bodied with a rich and creamy carbonation that seems just shy of medium in intensity. Malty and woody flavors fill the mouth and linger well into the aftertaste. The wood is dominant but well integrated.

D - Pretty intense in flavor. Malt and wood are the key elements. Splitting a bottle 6 ways yields less than I would like to have...probably splitting a bottle 2-3 ways would be perfect, but very happy to share this among a group of people that really appreciate it. The look on people's faces as this was brought out was really worth it. Thanks again Greg!

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2010 23:59:24 | More by portia99