Avant Peche Imperial Porter - Odell Brewing Company

rawfish

California

3.73/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Comes in corked and caged 750 ml bottle

An interesting combination of 45% ale w/ peaches added, 19% Ale aged in Oak Barrels and 36% ale aged in Oak barrels w/ peaches added.

A: Dark, dark, dark. No light penetrates through this one at any angle. Poured like a carbonation bomb but the head quickly receded to an attractive amber ribbon that left very little lacing on the glass.

S: The nose was a light on this one, a definite character of roasted malts and oak. Traces of acidic fruit, a little funk like mulched leaves and chocolate.

T: Nice with roasted malts and some smoky bitterness that releases on the finish. There's some, not many woody notes but not much of that fruit promised in the label or the nose. The wild yeasts and peach seems to be battling it out to add their own tartness to the brew which adds to its complexity. Some sweetness comes out as it warms. It tries for a nice clean porter to tart fruit transition here but it's hit or miss.

M: Both medium bodied and medium carbonated, there's something extra there from the yeast but it doesn't affect how smooth it is on the finish.

D: Fantastically drinkable, no syrupy finish or notice of the AVB in this one.

So definitely a bold move by Odell here, an imperial porter with sour notes. Thank goodness the contrast plays out on different ends of the drink. This is certainly one that I would buy again to see how the yeast plays with this one and that tart silhouette.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2011 08:06:01 | More by rawfish

GabrielM

New Mexico

4.55/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a tulip.

A - pitch black with a nice amount of lacing and white head on top.

S - dark fruit, a little peach, some funk, chocolate, oak and roasted malt.

T - same as nose, but less peach than expected. The funky yeasts are definitely there, which add a nice bite and complexity to this porter. Really good brew.

M - great carbonation and mouthfeel from the yeasts are placing this one high on the charts for me. Very unique.

D - good all around and one I could drink a lot of.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2011 01:22:17 | More by GabrielM

SFLpunk

Vermont

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to forgetfu for the fast hook-up! He's the f-ing man!

750mL brown glass cork and cage bottle.

Pours a think blackish brown with thin crackly light cream-colored head with little retention and leaves some spotting.

Nose shows some toasted oak for sure, whispers of smoke, forest floor, wet leaves, french roast coffee, and maybe the suggestion of peach fuzz.

Palate is lean and crisp. There's some nice thin roasty malt in the center and the whole mouthfeel is outlined by the impression of tart peaches. It's not so much a flavor of peach, but the feeling of peach juice. Finish is clean and moderate. Leaves me watering for another sip.

Notes: Definitely a lot more subtle of a beer than I was expecting. Although I wasn't really sure what to think of a blended oak-aged peach imperial porter, to be honest. It sounds a little better than I think it comes off, but it's still damn tasty. Another reviewer commented on the press-release being a little misleading and I agree. Going to lay my other bottle down for a spell and see what happens. Maybe there's some latent funk in there that will get going with time.

Thanks forgetfu!

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2011 03:58:47 | More by SFLpunk

Beaver13

Colorado

3.35/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottle. Pours a dark brown with a thin off white head that quickly diminishes to a thin bubbly collar.

The aroma is roasted chocolate malts and tobacco with tart, acidic, sour peaches.

The flavor is roasted chocolate malts and some coffee quickly followed by some acidic tart peaches and then a big roasted bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, it's a very different mix with the big porter notes and the acidic sour peaches. It's very interesting...still can't tell if I like it or not. As it warms, the flavors mellow a little and blend better and a little brett comes out.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2011 05:30:41 | More by Beaver13

PalatePilot

Colorado

4.78/5  rDev +24.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Picked this 750ml Cage and cork bottle up to drink after a nice steak dinner of New Years Eve.
Poured it into a glass and it was an opaque brown to black with a toasty tan head.

Smell was not indicative of the taste. I had a hard time picking up peaches, but had a really nice and rich chocolate nose.

Taste was phenomenal. A great Imp. Porter and the wild yeast and blending was perfect for me. Peach is one of my favorite "flavors" often times the fake, sugary, over the top flavoring of peaches can really ruin things for me. The subtlety of the peaches is what I really loved about this. It is an Imperial porter with just a touch of peach and the wild yeasts make it a touch sour. Just Fantastic. Made me wish I would of bought another bottle.

The mouth was a real treat too. Silky, finished clean without a syrupy lingering.

The Drinkability of this beer is the reason I signed up for an account on this site, just to rate it. It was so so great and I still cant get over it. I headed to the liquor store this morning to buy 4 more bottles. 1 to drink tonight and 3 more to cellar.

I am really excited to try this beer over the next couple years as the wild yeast plays with this already fantastic beer.

Thanks!

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2011 01:52:04 | More by PalatePilot

BradLikesBrew

Missouri

4.38/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Murky brown body with a tan head.

Toffee, cocoa, mild hop character. A rather muted nose.

Cocoa, roasty malt, brown sugar, toffee; malt is the early takeaway. As I drink more, I notice some vague fruity notes (maybe?) and if I really try, I can almost detect some soft brett and slight barrel character, but that might be the power of suggestion. At the very most, funk, fruit, and oak are small contributors to the flavor profile, if they are even present at all.

I can't help but think that Odell could have produced a very similar beer without using peaches, wild yeast, or used Saboteur barrels. So why even bother?

Medium body, great mouthfeel, very smooth.

This is an awesome imperial porter. Wonderfull drinkability. I could drink a pint and never notice the ABV.

That said...this is not the beer that is advertised on the label. Odell seems to have a problem with their labels not matching the bottles' contents. I don't taste peaches, it does not taste like a wild ale, it is not sour. This does not mean it is not a good beer, but if you read the press releases and the label, you would have expected a funky, peach flavored porter and this is not it. Maybe it should have spent more time in barrel?

One of the most important purposes of beer packaging is to set some expectations for the consumer, give them an idea of what the beer will be like. My perception of what this beer would be and the reality of what it actually was were very different. That is a failure of marketing.

Still, this is one of the best imperial porters I have tried. Nicely brewed, poorly advertised.

UPDATE 1/11/11:

In the weeks since my first bottle of Avant Peche, I have had the fortune of tasting two more bottles. In both of these bottles I tasted undeniable peach and brett notes that, while mild and in balance with the rest of the beer's flavors, added another layer of complexity that made this beer that much better. Perhaps my harsh words about Odell were a bit premature. Sorry guys.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2010 03:28:31 | More by BradLikesBrew