On the 7th day of Christmas, Santa Beer gave to me...

a real nice excuse to be by myself - Odell's Isolation Ale. My personality lends itself to being a social butterfly - give me an excuse to talk to someone and I will blah blah until the cows come home. However, if required to be left to my lonesome, I can see no better beer to be left with than this bad boy.

The Isolation Ale pours a copper brown, with a light off-white head. Lots of malt, nuttiness and caramel in the nose of this one - seems sorta like Christmas fruit cake. You can definitely taste these smells when you have a sip - the medium body of the ale has some sweetness near the tail end. The aftertaste is pretty minimal, but has some good malty-ness. Not terribly carbonated, which didn't fill me up a whole lot (like that...need more room for Christmas treats anyway). With a good 6.0% ABV, this is a very enjoyable beer that won't get you on the "naughty" list if you have more than two or three.

Appearance - 4.0/5.0 - Rich, copper coloring with a light head
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - Nuts, caramel & malt are the primary aromas - strong enough to notice without being overbearing
Taste - 4.5/5.0 - The malt is sturdy and flavorful, with a bit of sweetness at the end of each taste
Feel - 4.5/5.0 - Medium bodied, lighter carbonation, flavor fills the mouth and little aftertaste
Drinkability - 5.0/5.0 - An excellent winter ale

On the 1st Day of Christmas, Santa Beer gave to me...

Odell Cutthroat Porter!

I was reading about this term called "Session Beer" and had seen it used a lot on Beer Advocate. Apparently, these are beers that you can multiple ones of without getting so sloppy that you end up making yourself look like a jerk. These beers cannot have ABV of anything over 5%. So, Bud Light would be a session beer. I personally would prefer this little gem, the Odell Cutthroat Porter.

The beer is a pitch black, thick brew. As it poured, it really stuck to the side of the glass, sorta like oil. You'll pick up a lot of coffee, roasted malt, some alcohol and dark chocolate in the nose. The brew has a really tasty, rich malt flavor with a robust coffee taste. I thought it was well blended and smooth, with a strong flavor through the entire taste. Definitely will be picking this one up again, and I'd recommend you give it a try if you happen to see it in the store!

Appearance - 4.5/5.0- pours thick, really dark, sticks to side of glass
Smell - 4.5/5.0 - coffee, alcohol, chocolate, roasted malt
Taste - 5.0/5.0 - rich malt flavor, with robust coffee taste, well blended
Feel - 5.0/5.0 - smooth, well blended, flavors strong throughout each taste
Drinkability - 5.0/5.0 - excellent beer if you just want to have a beer and not get lit after it.

Odell Brewing 5 Barrell Pale Ale

Quentin, our faithful beer guy, at Quarters on Wyoming and Montgomery, had recommended the Odell Brewing IPA last month and it was a nice brew. So, figured it wouldn't hurt to sample some of Odell's other offerings. Today's is the Odell Brewing 5 Barrel Pale Ale. Now, the story they tell on the label/box is that Odell's process is to experiment with new beers by using this 5 Barrel pilot system, which allows the brewers to try out new things without wasting a much of supplies on a large batch. Sounds interesting, but was it successful with this pale ale?

The Pale Ale has got a nice hop aroma to it, but lacks that strong hop taste that you would expect out of an IPA. There is still that bitter taste to it, but it's more subdued. I would gather it has to do with the brewery's method of adding the hops and using fresh whole hop flowers in the process. It's definitely unique, but nothing that is mind-blowingly different, which is ok as I prefer the more subtle changes. Everything else about this beer, including it's 5.2% ABV, is pretty consistent with what you'd expect in an American-style pale ale.

Odell Brewing - IPA

There was a really cool guy working at the Quarters at Wyoming & Montgomery today who I didn't catch the name of. Next time I go in there, I definitely will, as he recommended two tasty brews. The first one on the Beer Blog will be the Odell India Pale Ale (IPA for your acronym-heads out there).

I've found past experiences with the Odell brand to be pretty positive - the 90 Shilling and Easy Street Wheat were good representations of their respective types and were well worth the price. So, when Quarters Guy (whose name will be forthcoming) recommended this one, I did not hesitate to grab the six pack.

IPAs as a whole are a hoppy bunch. This one would fall somewhere in the middle of the Hop Scale. It's definitely nowhere near the Chama River Double IPA (which was the liquid representation of a Hop getting nuked with gamma radation and smashing the brewery itself), but definitely has that kick of hops as you take a slip.

While there is the characteristic bitter taste, it is nothing that gives you the "Bitter Beer Face". There is an excellent, clean finish - one that makes your taste buds ready for another sip. Be careful as your bottle will be quickly empty if you don't watch it. Do watch it though, as this beer is more buzz-worthly than your average six pack, with a 7% ABV (most IPAs I've found are around 6-6.2%

I had one of these earlier today as I washed the car. It hit the spot as it was an amazingly warm day (about 80 or so) and when you're leaning up against a really hot Tahoe to get the roof washed, it's easy to get parched. The one I'm enjoying as I write this little review is in a nice frozen glass and is a great beer to wind down the day.

Conclusion - A great hoppy, bitter and smooth representation of the IPA brand. Will definitely be purchasing this for the beer fridge again.

Odell IPA

60 IBUs

7.0% ABV

http://www.odellbrewing.com/