Odell Mountain Standard Double Black IPA

Here's one from a keg I ordered late last year, and just got around to tapping. It's a November release, so I'm trying to downplay any "seasonal" aspect, and let folks enjoy for themselves. Here's what I think of Odell Mountain Standard Double Black IPA.

Thoroughly ebon appearance, with crimson highlights at the edges. Impressive cream-toned foam, leaving lace aplenty.

Subdued aromatics, mix of muted grassy hops and dark malt.

Taste: Gracious on the tongue, and down the throat. Delicate hop buzz grips the palate, washed over by roasty black and chocolate malts, altogether beautifully balanced. Nothing is out of whack, nothing doesn't gel. Roasty espresso and cocoa notes, while a persistently hoppy tingle hanging over.
Smooth, full-bodied, and drinkable. Rewarding, without being too complex. Has depth, though, and plenty of deliciousness. And while you sink too deeply into it's tempting flavors, the 9.5% ABV doesn't to rear it's head.

This one goes in to the category of Black Ales/ IBAs that I actually like. Although it's ease of drinking belies it's alcoholic strength. Have to put a stop after one.

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout Rye Barrel-aged

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout Rye Barrel-Aged. Dark and complex with 11 malts and grains balanced by three different and distinct hops. Aged for a year in a Rye Whiskey Barrel from Heaven Hill Distilleries. Batch # 341, Brewed 8/26/10, bottled 8/26/11, OG: 26 Plato, Alc./Vol. 12 %, IBU 59.

complete blackness, under a head of nothing, starts out small and disappears.

Aroma: big vanilla coming through before I lift the glass to my nose. Huge, vast vanilla. Big, ol' sweetness. Not a tremendous amount more than that. But for what it is, deep, complex and beautiful.

Now, to taste: more of the same on the tongue. Rich, malty, delicious. Here come a little heat, here comes the rye spice. A little bready, a little spicy. Not quite getting the whiskey feel I want in this, and the Imperial Stout below is very well smothered by the rye barrel aging. 

I like this one, but not as much as the bourbon barrel aged version, which had so much more going on in it. This one hits a few notes and that's all she wrote.

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Wee Heavy Scotch Ale. Limited release, majestic brew with layer upon layer of malt complexity. 9.5% Alc./Vol.

Clear, lightish brown, crimson highlights, ring of cocoa-tan foam hovers over.

Rich malty nose, high on the sweet side, some toffee and vanilla in there. Quite lovely.

Taste: rolls smoothly and seductively off the tongue, over the palate, down the throat. Tasty malt character, minor to no hops discerned, medium bodied, soft, but lingering finish. Some caramel and toffee malt flavors, Rising sweetness. A little bit of raisin, just a touch of rum. Clean, easy drinking.

Nice as it is, though, I'm not overly impressed. A solid offering, and another nice one from the Big Eddy series. Nothing wrong with it, I could use a little more in there. Also, the high alcohol is not having any effect, until…whoa, here it comes...

Furthermore Oscura

Furthermore Oscura, beer with 100% Fair Trade Coffee. 12 fluid ounces, brewed band bottled by Furthermore Brewing, LLC, Black River Falls, WI. "A Nicaraguan all-female growers co-op (STOP) A lusciously aromatic just coffee roast (STOP) our warm-fermented, cold-lagered cerveza oscura (HUH?)" Is this an inside joke, or am I supposed to know they wrote that as a telegraph?

Huh, indeed. A Coffee-infused Mexican lager from Wisconsin. What's up with that?

Caramel brown coloring, very transparent, slim, off-white head, small but actively dotted and lasting, for what it is.

Aroma: raw roasted coffee apparent at first sniff. The best part of waking up. Rich and earthy, and, yeah, luscious, but with little else below it.

Taste: There it is in the flavor, right up front, and all the way down. Coffee flavor pervades throughout the length of the drink, but I feel without there would be no other flavors at all. A little grainy in the mouthfeel, a modicum of texture, and earthy, indeed.

This is easy-drinking enough, for the those days when you'd love an alcoholic beverage with coffee flavor, but cold, and light bodied, and preferably beer-based. But, not a stout. I'm just guessing, but I think the base beer for this does not really have flavors to complement the coffee it's infused with (as with most Coffee Stouts). And the coffee overwhelms what flavors are there, masks and obscures them. So, I see the appeal of this, but I don't see myself returning to it very often.

Summit Unchained No.9: Dunkel Weizen

Summit Unchained No. 9: Dunkel Weizen. I love a good Dunkel Weizen. Will I love this one? Good question…

Clouded, burgundy hued, soft purple, I'll call it, under a vast, voluminous head of off-white, pillowy foam. Looks fantastic.

Aroma: clove and banana hit first, followed by some darker fruit, grape, berry, melon. Light spiciness, deep fruitiness, gorgeous wheat character. Ever so ever so.

Taste: Slides into the mouth assuredly, with the full wheat flavor, mixed with the classic Bavarian yeast, the fruit, the spice, the refreshment. So tasty, and so easy to drink, layers of complexity, and a heck of a lot of yum.

It takes a minute or two, but eventually it turns to dry, after a little bit of sweet. You have to get past that for a minute, but not I, I am partial to this flavor, and drink it up with all delight. Great wheat texture, smooth, silky, and, mmm. Mmm, mm, mmm.

Another good one in the Unchained Series. Haven't had much to complain about, yet. Doing good, Summit.

Mikkeller Hop Burn Double Imperial IPA

Mikkeller Hop Burn Double Imperial Pale Ale. 10% ABV. Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij, Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium.

Clouded, dark amber, nearly crimson, creamy white head, lasts long as a tight ring, very attractive and inviting.

Aroma: big, pungent, pine and citrus, a bitter bombast. Fat, juicy, bitter, dry, and fabulous.

Taste: Bam! Vast, fierce, enormous, gigantic. Tasty malt, overblown by an attack of bitter hoppiness. Boom, boom, boom, Bamtastic! Astringency emerges. Alcoholic heat surges. Bitterness dominates. Tense, terse, tangy. A very ending of this, rolling brittle off the tongue. Bitter orange and lemon, with a side of aspirin.

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel-Aged

Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout, Bourbon Barrel Aged, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company. Dark and complex with 11 malts and grains balanced by 3 different and distinct hops. Aged for a year in an 18-year old Bourbon barrel from Heaven Hill Distillery. Batch #342, Brewed 8/26/10, bottled 8/26/11, OG 26 deg Plato, Alc./Vol. 12 %, !BU 59. 7 fluid ounces. Not for resale.

This one was set aside, as well as the rye barrel-aged version I'll get to later, as a gift for managers and operators who have supported the Big Eddy beers. I received it a few weeks ago, and after Joe Falkowski left the bar, I showed it to a regular, loyal customer. He asked if it could be purchased anywhere. "No, I'm sorry, you can't", I told. He looked at me in all seriousness, as if I'd just shot his dog,  and said: "You really shouldn't have done that to me." Well, sorry, Joe (a different Joe), you shouldn't have asked what I had there. Or did I show it to him?

Solid blackness, rich, lasting cocoa/tan head.

Vast bourbon notes in the nose, gargantuan chocolate flavor, and immense alcohol phenols erupting. Wow. This is instantly one of the most impressive and amazing bourbon barrel aromas I've encountered. Vanilla is here, caramel, nougat, chocolate covered raisins. Figs. Dark rum, cognac. Sweet, complex, enormous, divine. Love it.

Taste: More of the same, more chocolate, more bourbon, more licorice, more depth, more feeling.
Increasingly rich, thick, impenetrable. A slight chore to push down the throat, but ever rewarding once that task is done. Coats the palate, clobbers the senses, and the alcohol content is loosed and invading the braincase. But so, so tasty. Mmm, I love it. And I love that it's a 7 ounce bottle.

Long, long finish. Domination of the palate. Thick, big, and delicious.

Dark Horse Plead the Fifth Imperial Stout

First tapped this one in May, 2010, took notes then. Had a bottle last night. Here come the notes:


Dark as sin, black as all the wrongs in the world, huge tanned brown, cocoa head standing firm above. Beautiful. Amazing. Gorgeous. Outstanding.

Aroma: Oatmeal? Hmmm? Well, it's creamy, ...there's chocolate. Not too sweet. Roasty, but not too much. Creamy chocolate. Let's stick with that.

Drinking it: Big, fat, fantastic, delcicious. Rounds around the mouth, and sticks with it. Very well rounded, all together. What we seem to have is an RIS that is not outrageous in any degree, not overly out-there with any particular element.
Big, thick mouthfeel, long cocoa and coffee finish. Mmm, just right.

Very tasty, and not really easy to read the 12% abv, until, what, wait a minute, ...there it is...whoa-oh...

Dave's BrewFarm Triple Dave

Dave's BrewFarm Triple Dave. 9.6% ABV. I'll give you the info later on, let's just get in here and drink it.

Lovely golden hued body, smallish head, soon gone.

Aroma, sharp, sweet and strong. Hints of honey and fruit. Citrus and banana. Big time malt.

Tasting it: once again, sweetness, a trifle sharp, and boom-shaka-boom, high alcohol. Not over the top, but readily apparent. Smooth, despite the strength, delectable and enticing. Getting more and more easy-drinking, even while the booze swims in and fills me up. Oats and wheat contribute to this, I'm sure. Yum, even creamy a little bit.

"An ode to Triple Karmeliet and inspired by one of our favorite Daves. Pils, Dark Munich, and Wheat malts coupled with flaked barley, oats and wheat. Golding and Saaz hops, grains of paradise and orange peel."

No coriander, though, Dave doesn't do coriander. This is in no way a TK clone, just a BrewFarm interpretation that's a bit stronger, richer, and bolder. Luscious, juicy malt character is an extra added plus. I said yum once, I'll say it twice, now I'm saying I'm saying it thrice. If I say it three times, it is true.

New Belgium Cocoa Mole' Ale

New Belgium Lips of Faith Cocoa Mole' Ale.

Utter blackness, with a sweet looking light tannish head, resting above.

Aroma: soft, sweet, and cinnamon-y. Love it.

Taste: Smooth, rich, and spice, with cinnamon first, and then, blam, the pepper comes. A fierce first hit, then mellow, …next sip, again, sweet cinnamon, hot pepper. A swift 2-step, a spicy tango. Chocolate malt lurks below, provides sufficient support, and delivers deliciousness. Pepper heat coasts smoothly overhead. Everything is in the pocket, here, everything is right on and groovy.
The peppers never really burn, just scorch a little. Taste lingers on the palate enough to make you remember it was there, and urge you into another sip and gulp.
And now, they all come together, the chocolate, the cinnamon, the hot spicy peppers, all at once. I'm halfway through the glass and the symphony is striking louder and stronger inside the mouth.

Damn,  this is interesting. Better than any chili pepper beer I've ever had, and better than most chocolate beers I've known. An interesting drinking experience that doesn't over-do it in any way, just keeps everything together, balanced, and drinkable. Mmm, chocolate comes back, keeping pace with pepper heat. Yum. Another hit from the Lips of Faith.

Ommegang Art of Darkness

Ommegang Art of Darkness, Belgian-style Strong Dark Ale. Cooperstown, New York.

Darkness incarnate in color, with crimson highlights shining through the bottom, under a lush, creamy cocoa-toned head. Lookin' good.

Aroma: soft, with notes of cocoa and cream, balanced and understated.

Taste: on the tongue, rich, full, dark and smooth. Lightly spicy, just enough wicked deliciousness from the yeast. A little bit of peppery heat. Lots of lush dark malts, but nothing too big, too sweet, too anything. This is Goldilocks' favorite beer, just right.
Some dark fruits, some fig and date, but completely utterly even, balanced, and dry. The nearly 9% alcohol doesn't stand out in the least.
Tasty stuff, this, but I so wish the yeast would contribute a bit more to the character. I want to really taste it.
But this one really does come close to impersonating a great Belgian strong dark ale. Kudos, Ommegang!

Central Waters Illumination Double IPA

Central Waters Illumination Double I.P.A. India Pale Ale. "Can you say palate wrecker? This double IPA comes in at 108 IBUs as hoppy as it gets with a mouthful of citrus flavors. Grab one today and illuminate your senses." 9% ALC./VOL. Brewed in Amherst, WI.

Well, I've already grabbed, so let's start illuminating. Clouded, apricot-ish hue, smallish head. Looking okay, I'm ready to go.

Oooo! Deep and dank hop bitterness all up in the nose. A massive attack of citrus and pine, grapefruit, orange and lime. Small sweet notes, amid the big, bad bitterness.

Tasting it: Boom, boom, boom. Bitter hop attack spread all over the palate. Slamalamadingdong. Getting tropical now, some pineapple-ish elements emerge, still with a unrelenting hop smack-up.

I like this. Good, if not great. Enjoyable, if not "the best."

Russian River Framboise For A Cure

Framboise for a Cure, Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, USA. Sour Barrel aged beer with raspberries. All hopped up for the Cure 2011. "!00% of the sale of this bottle will be donated directly to the Sutter Breast Care Center of Santa Rosa." 6.5% ABV.

I've had this before, courtesy of Jason Sowards, but it was had in company of others, and as I've said before, I don't take notes while enjoying with friends. Luckily, friends Jay and Annie brought a bottle for me after their last Southern California visit, and I'm just cracking it open today.

Bright red in the glass, clear, with a blooming pink head that dissipates rather quickly.

Sweet and sour fruit hits the nose first. Ah, raspberries. Tart, fresh, deep, and a little funky.

Taste: an attack of sour right from the start. Ooo, puckeration! Ah! Refreshing, tart, and light-bodied. Sour meets sweet again and again, slaps the tongue and slides on back. Leaves the palate easy-peasy-squeezy, drops off the memory of the senses until the next sip. But oh, that next sip! More of the fresh fruity flavor, more of that great charge of sour, more depth and wildness. Ah! More of that blast of funky fruity refreshment, each time it jumps over the lips.

Nice one, Russian River, keep fighting that fight, all in the name of boobies. Hooray for boobies!

Aventinus Vintage 2004

Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock Ale, (weizenstarkbier), Brauerei Georg Schneider & Sohn, brewed in 2004. Product of Bavaria, Germany. 8.2% ABV. Paper wrapped, with various events of that year lain diagonally across the sheet. Academy Award winners, Olympics, natural disasters, this odd fact: "Bill Haley invented rock'n'roll 50 years ago." Was that him? There must be a debate about that, somewhere. I'd bet Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard have something to say about that. Tied around the neck with string is a nice little card, and here's what it says: "Aventinus, the worlds oldest top=fermenting wheat doppelbock, has received accolades for the perfect balance of fruity spiciness (banana, clove, vanilla) and notes of chocolate (crystal and dark malts). In addition, the beer has demonstrated wonderful aging potential with aromas and flavors of chocolate (very soft), port and sherry when aged for three years or more.
Therefore, in 1999, the Schneider Brewery decided to age 240 cases of Aventinus each year in their historical ice cellar in Kelheim with each batch held for a minimum of three years.
Each fall for many years to come, B. United International is proud to release a small allotment of the latest vintage to all our customers across the USA. Please enjoy it now or hold on to it in your own cellar for further development…if you can handle the wait."

Well, I can't handle the wait. And I think that eight years is enough. So, let's crack this open and take in all this development.

One small detriment of age is noted immediately. Utterly still, no foam, no head, no nothing, very un-like the normally bilious Aventinus. There's a lot going on when you examine the surface, plenty of active bubbles spreading swiftly from the middle to the sides, but that's as far as it goes.

Aroma, here's where it's happening. Very much like the young Aventinus, but taken further in complexity. Banana and clove are there at first, followed by raisins, grape, figs, dark rum, port wine. Raspberry jam in a wine cask, chocolate looks below. Beautiful.

Taste: again, very still, no carbonation on the tongue. At least, very little. But the palate is washed over with the smooth wheat feel and the dark malt flavor I've come to love from Aventinus, pushed a little farther. Gets richer and fuller in the mouth, the more it takes command of the senses. A little pepper to match the clove, a touch of fire in this to stir up the fruit and chocolate notes. Mmmm, mmm.

One good thing about this venture in aging is that they charge no more for it than for a new bottle of Aventinus. One bad thing about it, if I may, is that while very good and some kind of an improvement, it's not quite a mind-blower and shies seriously short of transcendence. Although…although…I'm liking this more and more. Mellow and mostly magical.

Maui Big Swell IPA

Maui Brewing Big Swell IPA. "Big, hoppy, bold, smooth, and hoppy…did we mention hoppy?" ALC 6.8% by VOL.

Hazy, bright golden hue, Small tight ring of white foam, leaves some lace.

Aroma: pungent and hoppy, plenty of pine and citrus, lemon and orange ahoy! Plenty of bitter, with a hint of sour, and a touch, just a touch, of the sweet. Wonderful complexity.

Taste: Mmmm. Yeah. Boom, there it is. Citrus zest all over the palate, but never too much, not too bitter, not too strong. Hangs on the palate long, slight astringency, but, yeah, smooth, drinkable, and delicious. So nice. Medium-bodied. Tasty tango of bitter and sweet. Downable, indeed, full of hoppitude and hoppiness. Nice stuff.

Thanks to Dave A. for the can.

Epic (Utah) Hopulent Imperial IPA

Epic Hopulent IPA. India Pale Ale. Elevated Series. Release #37, 8.2 % ALC./Vol.

Opaque appearance, peach/apricot hue, smallish wheat head, leaves lace and lots of tiny bubbles. Nice.

Aroma: classic American IPA nose, Cascade and then some, citrus and pine, plus peach and so forth. Getting more prickly, and pleasant, the more I drink it in through the nostrils. Just right.

Taste: Mmm, mmm, mmm. Almost perfect. Tons of pine and citrus, with the merest malt, providing a plump pillow. Hitting all the marks, plucking all the strings, striking all the notes. Nothing too over the top in bitterness, not too heavy, not too lean. Not too high in alcohol, either, though it is on the strong side. Very palatable, very approachable, easy to please for the experienced hop-o-phile. Plenty of pure hop flavor, here, gets a touch astringent, but not too much of anything I can't handle. Gets increasingly bitter and pungent, but, again, that's right up my alley.

Let us now put to rest the notion that there is no good beer coming out of Utah. Eventually, that will be claimed for all 50 States, just you wait and see.

Dave's BrewFarm Iron Paw

Iron Paw, Dave's BrewFarm, growler, specs to be revealed later. Let's just drink this semi-blind and see what happens. 

Out of the growler and into the glass, it's a beautiful opaque dark amber-ish hue with a large head that drifts down, leaving lace and small dotted lagoons here and there.

Aroma shows sweetness and sour. Sugar and fruit. Belgian influence and ingredients, perhaps. This is probably one of the funky, pureed pineapple and Thai sugar mash-ups. Or did I just memorize the description? Either claim is valid. Plenty of wildness matching the sweet and the fruit. Delectable.

Taste: Great grit on the palate, very full-ish body, solid, hefty body, altogether excellent in the mouth, with lingering traces of fruit and sugar. Investigating further, big fruit zest, doses of citrus, shots of sugar, blasts of Belgian yeast. Definitely delicious. Lays long on the palate, makes a happy home there. Tasty as heck.

Okay, now is the time when I crack out the real Farmer Dave description of this beer named for his fiercely protective puppies. 

" 8.3% ABV. "If Border collies had thumbs…" Pils, Melanoidin and Ashburne Milkd malts. Merkur and Bramling Cross hops. A late addition of Thai palm sugar and pureed pineapple. Fermented with a Belgian yeast strain. "…they would rule the world."

Maybe I stored this in my memory, but it's also a safe bet that I really tasted it, too. It's there, and it's every so delicious. Another weird and wonderful ale from the LaBrewatory.

Town Hall Smoked Porter

So, Town Hall has a Smoked Porter on tap now, and I took home a growler of it last week. Looked for it on BeerAdvocate, and found none. There's more diligent reviewers than I out there these days, so I'm surprised that if it's a new beer that it's not on that site yet. But, I know they made one before, and lo and behold, there it is, under "Archived" for retired beers. When I enter a beer into their database, I always call a beer "rotating", so this sort of thing doesn't happen.

Nonetheless, let's just use my old notes from August of 2004:

Another unannounced surprise at the pub, another cult-favorite style as yet untried (to my experience) at this establishment. 

Appearance: complete darkness, black in totality, with a nice, creamy brown head, that lasts long, and leaves lace as the glass empties. 

Aroma is mild and subtle at first, showing light, subdued cocoa and coffee, with the smoke character slyly entering the frame, but never being a large factor. 

On the tastebuds, though, a different story, for the smoke comes in first and foremost, mingles well with the coffe and chocolate, making for a very complex and flavorful experience in the mouth. Very silky smooth, even irresistible, downable indeed, but with plenty going on. 

Body feels a bit thin, after a while, but mouthfeel is creamy and the taste is rewarding, so I don't hold that against it. Nice, longish finish. 

A little research shows that this beer has been around before, and has a name, "Sparnfarkel", which the current brewer blames on a former, and claims it has "something to do with Germans roasting pigs." More research shows nothing conclusive. I think it's a joke, and a silly one, the best kind.

Minneapolis Town Hall India Brown Ale

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery India Brown Ale. IBA. 7.3% ABV, looking at notes from June, 2006:

Ruddy brown the color, cream-toned the foam, of stable size, if thin, and adorned with copious bubbles. 

Miild, sweet cocoa in the aroma, little bit of nuts. And then the hops come shining through. Pleasant enough. 

Bright, bold, and delicious once in the mouth. Clean, smooth and indubitably drinkable. Chocolate tones remain in the flavor, hops persist on the tongue. A twist of citrus, lacing the chocolate. Zesty, medium bodied, long, hoppy finish. 

A tasty, tasty ale you drink all the live-long day and not likely tire of. Does some playful tricks on the tongue, and rewards the imbiber. I like that. Must stop in for more before it goes away. That's how they get ya, man!

Odell 90 Shilling Scotch Ale ( and thoughts on session styles and the Minnesota market)

What's with all the Founders and Odell beers lately? Sale at Zipp's, stocking up! Gives me a chance to revisit these beers I first tried from trades so many years ago, that have finally been made available locally in the past 2 or three years. And looking back on my notes on 90 Shilling got me thinking. And here's what I thought about.

In Colorado, 90 Shilling is the flagship beer for Odell, their main seller. Now, I don't have facts and figures to back it up, but that's not the case here, the IPA is definitely their best seller in Minnesota, and the beer geeks are clamoring for the special releases. But, clearly, 90 Shilling is not a beer geek's beer, it's a beer drinker's beer, a session ale for craft beer enthusiasts. Elsewhere in Colorado, ambers and browns are big sellers. New Belgium's flagship ale is an amber, Fat Tire, and they only started making an IPA recently, in the past couple of years. Consider also Bell's Brewery, where the flagship brew in Michigan is still the Amber Ale, yet here in Minnesota we outsell their home state when it comes to Two Hearted Ale, the IPA. I've met folks who don't know they even make an amber ale.
Looking at the Minnesota market, I can't imagine a scotch ale or an amber or anything like it, anything more on the malty side, making a real impact.

What it seems to me is that the evolution of the craft beer has skipped a step somewhere, and part of the cause of that belongs to Summit EPA. That hoppy version of an English pale ale was released in 1986, along with the Great Northern Porter, and that Extra Pale Ale became the breakout of the two, reigning as Minnesota's craft beer choice for two decades. Nothing else that came along since made as strong an impact, ...until Surly in 2006. Two beers released at once, again, one hoppy, one malty, and the leader of these two has clearly been Furious. It's not my sole observation, I can't take credit for this thought entirely, but it seems that Summit Extra Pale Ale trained the Minnesota tastebuds for hops and bitterness and paved the way on the palate for Furious. Could it be possible that another style, a brown ale, an amber, a scotch or a stout could have possibly held the place Summit EPA has been in for two decades? On the other hand, other markets, your Colorados, your Oregons and Washingtons and Californias, have had longer craft brewing traditions locally, the greater populace accepted small craft brewers sooner and stronger. Ten years ago I was at a wedding in Portland, Oregon, and the rehearsal dinner had two beers available: Deschutes Black Butte Porter, and Bridgeport Blue Heron Pale Ale. No Heineken, no Budweiser, no Corona. Those were the two options, and everyone was happy. Good, solid session ale, nothing too hoppy, nothing too strong.

And here's where I think we've lost something from that leap into all-out hoppiness. There's not much middle ground out there, at least in the activity I observe. Or, perhaps it's my problem in watching the wrong crowd. The beer geeks clamor for more hops, more alcohol, more, more, more. But, the regular beer drinkers are the ones lapping up Furious, too. What I fear is the lack of appreciation for anything milder and mellower. If so many are starting out with a hop attack like Furious, where do we go from here, and is there any turning back? There are people out there who will only choose an Imperial IPA over anything else, others who won't drink anything less than an Imperial Stout, and those who will walk away if not offered a sour ale. But, here I go lumping in the extreme cases, the ultra-geeks, in with everyone else. I think session ales are overdue for a comeback, it may just need the craft beer drinking populace to come to their senses.

Enough of that, let's get look at my notes and I will present them in their entirety, lifted off of BeerAdvocate.com, where I show myself to be just as much a culprit in this as anyone. My first notes were in February 2003, and eight months later, I edited the review, as you will see. Six years later, it entered the market and I forgot that I'd already reviewed. All those words follow these:

Color is on the amber/copper side, under a huge head of foam.

Aroma is on the dry side, soft, herbal, slightly floral, vegetal.

Hops are minimal, malt is huge and thick. Taste is a little mellow for me, and a bit too sweet.
Drinks well, slides easily down the tongue. Full, rich, malty mouthfeel, but a little too low on hops for my taste.
 A fine micro Scottish, but not for me.

10/19/03 tweaked the numbers some, after realizing that I let personal prefererence interfere with a judgement of a perfectly good expression of this style, yet not among my favorites at that time. I'm still growing, folks...

07/30/09

I totally forgot I reviewed this 6 1/2 years ago.

Here's my notes from last night just for fun:

Odell 90 Shilling

Clear, caramel-brown, nice, if small, beige head.

Sweetness in the nose, big malt, lush and lovely.

Tasting it:...sweet and smooth, fine and mellow...a light, easy-drinking scotch-style ale. Very drinkable. Toffee and caramel tones dominate, sweet and tasty reigns supreme. 

I can see this being very popular. On the other hand, it doesn't quite hold enough interest for me. Ah, well.