Thoughts on Odell Welcome Week, part one

It must be spring, because the timing of this release couldn’t have been better. I have the evenings off all week, and I am going to try and visit as many of the special releases and tastings across the Twin Cities as possible. This is part one of my adventures in Odell’s Minnesota Welcome Week.

Last night, Leslie and I decided to begin our adventure in exploring Odell beers at Stub & Herb’s. We arrived a few hours after the release and special cask tapping of Woodcut #4, but I was happily surprised that the members of the Odell crew were still hanging out, chatting with craft beer folks, excited to see 7 different Odell beers available.

I already knew which burger basket I planned to order (the Inferno, substituting for a Boca burger), so I asked Jon Landers, the bar manager, which beer I should enjoy first to start my evening. He told me that I should check out the Odell sampler. I was able to try three year-round offerings, and one seasonal, in manageable seven-ounce pours. My thoughts, brief as they may be, are as follows:

• India Pale Ale (7.0 % ABV, 60 IBUs) – light, floral nose; taste soft notes of peanut; crisp, slightly bitter finish.
• 90 Schilling Ale (5.3% ABV, 27 IBUs) – Wow. Immediate notes of hazelnut, with a creamy, nutty finish. Think Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, but slightly smokier, and more full-bodied.
• 5 Barrel Pale Ale (5.2% ABV, 36 IBUs) – soft, grassy nose; light, slightly bitter finish. Definitely a great introductory beer for those not keen on hops, but interested in learning about wet hopping and dry hopping.
• St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale (6.5% ABV, 46 IBUs) – slightly astringent nose; medium-bodied mouthfeel; more present hops in the finish. It’s a quenching beer, not overtly-bittered by hops.

Another beer I sampled at Stub & Herb’s was a rare, cask-conditioned rendition of the fabled Woodcut. The crew from Odell clarified for me that it’s not the same beer as the bottle-conditioned namesake; this barrel-aged, double Märzen was dosed with Brett before being casked. The Woodcut #4 was immediately my favorite of the night, and the frontrunner so far in my journey this week. It had a funky, tart nose, reminescent of Russian River Consecration, or a room-temperature New Belgium La Folie. It was a bit lighter in body than those two heavy hitters, yet had a creamier mouthfeel, hitting just the right taste buds to fulfill my craving for sour, funky beer.

Originally, we planned to head home to Saint Paul, but as we were departing, a few of the folks mentioned we should stop by The Happy Gnome. I knew I was going to leave a few Odell beers to be sampled later this week, however I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to some of a rare, 5-gallon cask of Odell Friek, a five-way blended kriek, tea-bagged with whole raspberries. I was instantly reminded of a lighter rendition of a Cantillon 100% Kriek. The Friek’s nose was mildly funky, had a tart mouthfeel, and a fleeting presence of raspberry seeds, with a merlot-like finish.

The final beer I sampled on the first day of Odell Welcome Week was their Saboteur, an oak barrel-aged brown ale with Brett. Ringing in at 10.5% ABV, it’s definitely a sipper, but remarkably quaffable. The Brettanomyces presence is soft, but lends just enough funkiness to make this brown ale really interesting. I detected a soft fruity nose, nutty caramel body, and a funky finish, making this brew extremely interesting. It’s not too funky to be a figurative “one-trick pony” and it’s just funky enough to make a typical brown ale drinker raise an interested eyebrow.

I look forward to seeing many of you at some of the other events this week. If you’ve been out to a tasting or beer dinner already, what do you think? I would like to hear your thoughts. Cheers!

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