HaandBryggeriet Odin’s Tipple

**Aroma:** “A huge, rich nose with lots of complexity. Chocolate-covered cherry dipped in vanilla, with fruity esters, roast, and light raisin. Wet oak, smoke, and red wine, possibly scotch, with a touch of sourness. Some roasted malt and coffee with chocolate in the background, but the wood is what shines through.” **Flavor:** “Strong oak presence—almost sawdust—with tannin and vanilla, and a huge smoky, roasty backbone. Some of the chocolate notes help to round things out, making it taste like a chocolate-dipped campfire. There is a medium spiciness toward the end of the sip that could be rye, and a light sourness mixes with a bit of alcohol in the finish. Light cherries linger after the sip.” **Overall:** “A complicated and disjointed beer that probably has a good underlying stout base, but it gets distracted with too much oak and other interesting recipe choices. The roast and oak characters are not cohesive, and clash on many levels. There are fruity esters toward the end, but a larger alcohol flavor takes over. A lot of different flavors going on.”

**Aroma:** “Herbal, tea-like notes, medium chocolate, a little bit of coffee, and a lot of alcohol. Herbal and catty with a touch of skunk. The roast flavors do not present themselves in a big way in the aroma.” **Flavor:** “Sweet mocha malt character with a smoked pork–like note. Moderate roast with a touch of astringency. Slight lactose consistency. Alcohol is over the top and extends into the aftertaste. Big roasty flavors, bitter and a bit burnt. Hops flavor is resinous, sticky, and catty—not exactly complimentary to the strong malt notes.” **Overall:** “High alcohol with chocolate and roast notes. Roast flavors explode out of the glass. Hops flavors are not the best match for the roast/alcohol balance. The skunky and catty notes are so prominent that it tastes as if it were dry-hopped with marijuana.”

**Aroma:** “Hops! Fruity passion fruit, orange, lemon, grapefruit, dank resinous in the background—if I didn't see the color, I’d expect an IPA. Some dark roast and chocolate sweetness sneak through once your nose is dead to the hops. Light tart note. As it warms, a slight molasses note starts to mix with the hops.” **Flavor:** “High hops flavor up front with bit citrus notes. Moderate chocolate with big roasty notes support the hops. Quite sweet up front. Sweetness slowly fades into a low bitterness. Toward the end, slight smoke note but big hops that continue into the aftertaste with a mix of roast. Dry, bitter hoppy finish. As it warms, the smoke turns into a burnt molasses note. Very fruity: passion fruit and pineapple. Finish is sweet and lingers. Rich chewy body that doesn’t come across as thick. Big pine and orange flavors from the hops. Chocolate from the malt gives it a chocolate orange flavor. The sweetness comes together with all the different bold flavors and finishes with a slightly dry finish.” **Overall:** “A nice balance of stout and hops, but if you don’t like hops, this stout is not for you. Strong flavors all around with a touch of alcohol warming in the background to fill it all out. Good balance of hops flavor and bitterness. This is a very different take on a stout—kind of a black IPA more than a stout. This beer tastes like a better, less sweet version of those chocolate-covered orange candy sticks, but with a heavy dose of pine richness. Very tasty!”