Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout
Aged for four months in bourbon barrels from the distillery in Kentucky, the Bourbon Barrel Stout is a robust yet balanced beer. Roasted malts give it a chocolate and coffee overtone, and the oak creates hints of vanilla and caramel. At 10.5% ABV, this stout pairs well with smokey barbeque sauce or even rich desserts.
2009 - Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels
2010 - Makers Mark bourbon barrels
2009 - Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels
2010 - Makers Mark bourbon barrels
3.7
220 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
Nose of roasted malt, smoke, and light booze. Taste follows the nose. Very little vanilla and barrel coming through on this. A little sour and soy saucy. Something is not right. Many other superior options out there in this style.
750 ml brown bottle. Pours with a thick tan head and mild raisin and chocolate aromas. Medium body with a very smooth mouth-feel. Late alcohol warming. slight bourbon character.
Bottle shared by Darrell. Thanks man.
The beer is dark brown with an inch of khaki colored head. Ample lacing left on the tulip. The aroma brings some malt with a musty, yeast character. The scent is generally pretty weak. Unusual, though not off putting. While the beer is not bad, this is without question a beverage that has been invaded by wild bacteria. Light tartness and mild sourness with hints of roast. Sweet and sour cherries. Bourbon presence is secondary to wild yeast flavors. Not at all what one should expect from an imperial stout. If the style category was changed to American wild ale, this beer would make more sense. Overall, interesting, and worth a try, especially if you’re a fan of both stouts and sour ales.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 11-18-2011
Picked up a bottle of this based on someone’s recommendation, big mistake. Dark black color, a little head. Smells like alcohol, booze, a bit of stout and more booze. The taste had slight notes of grain and coffee but it was mostly alcohol, rubbing alcohol in fact. This was really poor quality considering the cost and I’ll be really cautious purchasing their 750’s in the future, probably just stick to the IPA and Lupulin.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 10-10-2011 02:05:34
This poured a darker brown color with a tan head. Aroma was lots of barrel, vanilla, and dark chocolate. Flavor was almost all bourbon and barrel, the chocolate element of the stout blended well, but it was still dominated by the barrel which is unfortunate.
750ml bottle pours a opaque black with one ring of creamy off white head. Aroma of chocolate milk, malt balls, woody, toasted coconut, vanilla, grainy, coffee grounds, dark chocolate, a little licorice. Flavor is nice and well balanced, sweet, malty, licorice, caramel, toasted bread, coffee grounds, heavy on the dark chocolate, vanilla, a little cherry, some booze, a little grain alcohol. Full bodied, lightly sticky finish.
Dark brown, ruby highlights, fluffy tan head. Aroma pretty subdued for such a big beer, some bakery's chocolate, bready malt. Flavor: bready malt with chocolate, toffee, definite oak with a little oxidative note. Body medium-full, finish is fairly dray and grainy.
2009 Version. Not infected. Lucky me
A-- Cork was a pain in the butt to get off! Poured a jet black with a 1/2 inch of head, a light brown color. Left a little bit of lacing on the glass. Not a lot of carbonation
S-- Bourbon forward. Either that or I need to drink more bourbon! Next is the vanilla and then the sweet milk. Very impressive in the smell catagory.
T-- Same as above. Bourbon, sweet milk, vanilla, and chocolate. Very well balanced and in a lot of ways each ingredient gets its chance to stand out alone. Impressive.
M-- Full bodied yes, but still creamy, rich and stands out. A decent amount of carbonation in the mouth but the flavors really take shape well. At the very end and once the beers warms up a bit you do get an alcohol burn. Small one though.
D-- Scary, scary, and scary. Very drinkable for a 10.5%. Without the bourbon this would be an awesome sweet stout. With the bourbon it is still awesome, even though I am not a fan of bourbon. That said opnce the beer warms up the bourbon becomes much more apparent. Excellent beer.
Dark brown/black pour with beige head. Nose is bourbons and vanilla. There is some chocolate and dark fruits in the taste to complement. A nice bourbon imperial stout.
31st October 2009
Post Borefts I Invasion of Fonefan and Charlottes room tasting! Opaque black stout - creamy head. Good carbonation and a soft palate. Soft woody dark malt with a nicely judged amount of bourbon. Light for it’s abv but warming.
Thanks, Josh, for the brew! Nose is light bourbon and vanilla, with some fig notes in there. Caramel and chocolate round this one out. Pour is black with a tan head...typical for the style. I like the fig and caramel in this Impy stout. The fruity flavors help round out the light oak and bourbon notes. Good stuff.
Bottle
Appearance - Deep hazy brown, tan lacing
Aroma - Smoky, honey, berries, wood
Taste - Fig, black cherries, caramel, oak, vanilla, hops
For a barrel-aged beer, the carbonation was very lively and complimented the soft oak notes. As it warms up it is simply delectable; complex flavors of raisins, vanilla, chocolate and hops with a touch of wood make for a satisfied palate. Once again, thanks to OmegaX for this fine brew.
In bottle. Pours a very dark brown colour with a fair light tan head. A huge bourbon aroma with caramel, chocolate, roasty malt, vanilla and Brett. Similar flavours with moderate carbonation, mild CO2 prickle and an oily mouth-feel. Alcohol is very present.
Black pour, thinner than I expected. Strong bourbon aroma. Very smooth and light. Some roastyness, but the predominant flavor here is bourbon. An aptly named stout. I’d argue too much bourbon is present, and the stout doesn’t shine through enough.
Poured an unmistakable murky Cadillac black into snifter. Smells immediately of brown sugar, hash browns, figs, booze and straight-up cereal grain. Doesn’t tastes much different -- but it was wickedly too sweet for my liking. The sweetness and oak components totally took over.
750ml bottle. Darkest brown with a small lacing tan head. Bourbon aroma almost rules out every other note. OK, there is some roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, naturally lots of vanilla. But it’s the same with taste: Bourbon. It’s not that I don’t like this - but how do I rate a beer completely cowered under the barrel’s regime?
Bottle, shared by a generous friend. All the way delicious ... definitely a strong stout, full of all the robust choco-java flavors you like in one. The bourbon is nice and subtle, definitely there, but not forward. Very, very good! (#4556, 4/1/2012)
Hmmm...tried this in 09 fresh amd rememner liking it quite a bit. Had it on tap today (presumably the 11 vintage) which I think is Makers. Some coffee and bourbon on the nose and taste, but not enough malt body. Watered down. I still have an 09 and a 11 cellared...will be interesting to compare them again some time. This one was disjointed...maybe needs some time.Rerate: 11 from the bottle after a year. Lowered the rating. Way too hot and thin and one dimensional. Booze and burnt coffee. Still have an 09. Probably will save my pennies next time this is out, poor value. Time has not been kind to this.
Draft pour. Pitch black with a light tan head. Nice bourbon, chocolate and oak. Complex and well made. Aroma is bourbon.
5 oz pour at Waldo Pizza. Pours a dark black. Aroma of coconut, bourbon, chocolate and molasses. Flavor of chocolate, coffee, coconut, wood, oak, vanilla. Very nice.
Growler brought back from brewery. Pours thick and dark with little head. Wonderful aroma of bourbon, oak, caramel, chocolate and roasted malt. Deep rich dark appearance with little head. Medium to full body with low carbonation. Taste? Unbelievable - sweet malty bourbon flavor with bitterness hidden in the background. Hints of chocolate, coffee, and oak. Alcohol completely hidden. May be the best beer I’ve ever had. Wish I could get some in Texas.
Tap at Waldos. Dark brown with a creamy white head. Cereal grain milk chocolate and cherry aroma. Strong dark chocolate vanilla cherry and bourbon candy taste with oak notes and a dry roasty finish. Quite good.
Pour was dark brown with a weak flat heat.
aroma is big bourbon, woody, some chocolate.
Flavour was thin for me.
plenty of bourbon flavour, though not overly boozy.
milky chocolate and some light coffee.
Poured from 750ml bottle with a huge frothy head which overflowed about a half inch out of my Lost Abbey tulip glass. I was expecting a more pronounced bourbon aroma but didn’t really get it unless I was right on the glass. Taste-wise, this beer was a mess. Got some hints of chocolate, a little vanilla and barely any bourbon. The flavors seemed to jump all over the place and left with a weird aftertaste. I was also surprised how thin the body was, not sure if that was due to the fact that it felt overcarbonated. I love most of the beers put out by Odell, but this was not one of them.
750 ml bottle. This is one of the worst beers I have had from one of my favorite breweries,Odells. There is a tart flavor and aroma that was out of place. Some chocolate, lots of bourbon, and that off putting tartness. I want so much to love this, but I do not,I am disappointed. Must try it again.
Tried another vintage. Thin, huge alcohol heat and flavor, nothing resembling a stout let alone an imperial stout. Footbalmed.
750 ml bottle. My bottle reads 11.5 % ABV. Pours inky black with a nice rocky mocha head that sticks around forever, leaving nice cobwebby lace. Aroma is chocolate milk, coffee, wood, beautiful. Taste is mostly sweet with bitterness there but taking a backseat. The alcohol is extremely well-hidden. This is so smooth. Mouthfeel is creamy, carbonation is average. Not in your face like a lot of barrel aged imperial stouts. It’s more subtle and very tasty. I’ve always loved Impy Stouts, but I started to get bored with them awhile back. I can’t even remember the last time I had one (goddam alcohol in the brain). Drinking this reminds me of why I love the style. Thanks to my brother for this!
22oz bottle. Rating #177. This was trouble from the start, the cork was popped with a big pop of carbonation and the pour produced a rush of foam, which ultimately led us to believe that there might be some kind of infection. After tasting it, it was slightly infected, which was unfortunate since you could get a hint of what it could of been. (2085)
Draft at Mackenzie.Nice lace. Some bourbon notes in the nose. Black body, tan head. Very sweet. Very nice brew.
Compared with GI bourbon barrel stout which I had at the same time. Pours a dark brown, not quite opaque brown with moderate, but not overpowering aroma of bourbon with traces of caramel, and the slightest floral hint. Starts of boozy, but not nearly as strong compared to GI and switches over to moderate bitter and mild sweet finish that is moderate in length. Moderate carbonation. A good bourbon stout for the bourbon lovers, but still reminds you that it’s a beer.
Bottle from ? Pours dark brown with a few tan bubbles. Aroma of bourbon/vanilla. Med body. Flavor of bourbon is strong. There’s some cola and smooth dark burnt malt with a light touch of oak. It’s good, but it could use more oak.