Back from the Dead!!

Yup that's right I'm still aware that this blog is sitting out there in the universe in existence and that I have neglected it to the point of having Sarah Mclachlan do a sad infomercial for it. (Cue Arms of the Angel) Alas brewing beer and other life choices have made me have as much affinity for extracurricular writing as I have for eating nasty ass Lutefisk (for those who have never tried don't, and those who have your some sick masochists). I also now live in Southeast Idaho which has severly limited many of the beers I love to the point of recreating the pottery scene from Ghost. There is one positive that there are many beers available out here that I have never even dared run into simply surfing the selection back home on the Pacific coast. That being said I have had many of the selections from breweries out of Fort Collins CO that do get distributed to the Pacific Northwest. One I never had that's one of the larger, and older breweries is Odell Brewing, never even had a clue it existed before I got out here much like Canadian football championship. Anyone who has ever met me, or knows much about my beer preferences knows that I go into orgasmic fits over winter beers to the point of being writhingly wet (ignore the spot on my pants). Now Odell I have had several of their beers by now to get a base knowledge of what a good range of their beers are like. I suprisingly was not a fan of their Scottish ale, so knowing that winter beer was on the way I did not have high hopes for a darker beer closer to that style, there hoppy beers have all tasted much better to me so I was going into the beer expecting it to be closer to a winter beer ala Full Sail Ale's Wreck the Halls; Hoppy Holidays, a good hoppy winter beer with a real crisp hop presence. Low and behold I was completely wrong, and this beer is closer to what I feel their Scotch Ale truly should be! There is a crisp sweet, malty smell right off the back which is usually the signal flare that I am going to love the shit out of this! It has all the deep rich malty notes that I LOVE!!! in all the scotch ales that are amongst my favorites. This does not have the peat, or subtle smoky notes in the flavor. Instead let it sit on your tongue for a minute and enjoy the crisp sweetness, with a terrific malt flavor. The bottle describes it as being a hint of caramel, I would say it has a sweetness that feels like the hidden love child of an agave honey, mixed with some rich caramel. Flavor from this beer as is typical with the sugar and sweetness of the tradtional winter beers wraps itself around your tongue and never let's go. If it was the end of titanic both of them would be sinking to the bottom of the ocean together. Another thing I do appreciate is the quaint little piece of beer art with every bottle, even the underplayed winter cabin scene is written out perfect, kind of saying this is the kind of beer you want to cuddle up to late at night in a winter cabin, making you feel all warm and fuzzy all over, and I do mean all over. So if it pops up in the PNW, I'd say pick it up for sure and add it to the usual list of winter goodness. It's available all over Southern Idaho which is a wonderful bright note in an area that has it's fair share of beer selection gloom and doom (though I will note trying to get better!). Here again another fine example of a winter beer to huddle up to and slip the tongue to!