Beer of the Month: Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout

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Brandon Proff submitted this month's Beer of the Month, enjoy:

It's been a while since we have done a Beer of the Month post, which I find humorous considering all the awesome beer-centric activities Suburban Home has been taking part in since then.

In September, Virgil and I along with a hand full of SH pals went to the Great American Beer Festival at the convention center here in Denver. Suffice it to say, this yearly event is worth every penny. There were over 2,000 beers to try out, some of which are extremely hard to find either geographically or because the brewery makes a very small amount seasonally. No one could ever get through even half of the beers available in 3 nights let alone one, so we tried our best to hit the breweries who we had either previously experienced something great of theirs or had heard of something special that we had to try.

I can't for the life of me remember all of the beers we tried, but some of the highlights of the night for me came from breweries like Bull & Bush, Pizza Port, Jolly Pumpkin, Dogfish Head, McCoys, Deschutes, Oskar Blues, Upslope, and the list goes on and on and on. I highly recommend any of those breweries if you happen to be near them or can find their beer in your area.

In October we did a crazy 1 day / 9 stop Brewery tour in celebration of Chad Price's recent album release. Chad was a trooper and successfully played sets at Odell, Avery, Upslope, Oskar Blues, Great Divide, Breckenridge, Road 34, and Left Hand. In spite of a few minor hiccups everyone was incredibly accommodating and we had an great time, which brings us to our beer of the month:

Odell's Bourbon Barrel Sout

I stumbled on this 750 ml bottle one night in Boulder and quickly grabbed one as I am a nerd when it comes to all things Imperial. I know there's a lot of hullabaloo about the validity of the Imperial title when it comes to beer styles but personally think that's all petty for the most part until someone who knows what they're talking about explains it all to me. I'll embrace it for now.

Odell's site says "This limited edition offering begins with a full-bodied imperial stout that has notes of sweet milk chocolate, smooth vanilla and roasted coffee beans... We transfer it to Kentucky bourbon barrels where it’s aged for four months to let traces of oak and caramel come forward. The bourbon barrels have a remarkable effect on the beer. In turn, the beer has a remarkable effect on the senses."

If you have ever tried an Imperial stout, you know that they tend to be roasted, bitter, and have an alcohol burn. The spectrum of aroma and flavor variations is huge for this style of beer. Odell's take is fantastic because they didn't let the ABV get out of control like some of my other favorite imperials like Three Floyd's Dark Lord or Goose Island's Bourbon County stout. The 10.5% is incredibly well hidden by the chocolate and coffee flavors and aromas. The bourbon aging makes it silky smooth. It's dangerously good and anyone enjoying an entire bottle by themselves should be prepared to get cozy, as you're going to want to take a nap afterwards.

Bourbon Barrel Stout is available now wherever Odell beer is sold. GET SOME!