Odyssey: Devil May Care (England: IPA: 7.4% ABV)
Visual: Cloudy caramel brown with an apricot hint. Huge beiged frothy head. Moderate amount of small bubbled carbonation.
Nose: Pineapple. Caramel. Kiwi. Green grapes and crisp hops. Vanilla toffee. Light bitterness. Chocolate toffee. Mild orange and some blood orange. Vanilla.
Body: Tingling hops. Sour and fresh grapes. Fresh cut apples. Kiwi. Malt chocolate. Bubblegum. Lemongrass. Sulphur. Pineapple. Watermelon. Vanilla fudge.
Finish: Grapes. Bitter hops and slight greenery. Bubblegum. Mandarin orange. Lemon grass. Dried apricots. Nettles. Sulphur. Bitterness grows and growls over time. Coffee. Malt chocolate.
Conclusion: Ok, another big hopped, bitterness forwards boomer from Odyssey. Yet again it is different to the ones that came before. I am seriously getting into these brewers!
This one has a much more solid, darker base – dark malt chocolate, with a slightly rough feel and even an old school sulphurous element. It is very different to the ultra sweet or ultra dry IPAs that are very popular these days. There is a greenery touch to this, and high levels of heavy hop bitterness laden out. This is full of different characteristic being pushed out – a lovable mess of hop influences.
Initially you get very American style fruit with some New Zealand style tart fruit – apricot and grapes mixed with pineapple tartness. It then starts just jumping in every direction – from blood orange which reminds me of some of the newer hop breeds – to a bubblegum and lemongrass character that makes me swear this must have some Sorachi Ace in it. I love a good Sorachi Ace beer, so the impression of it being used here is great – Sorachi must be one of the greatest WTF odd hops around. More seriously, while this may be a mixed up mess, it works. You get a huge range of flavor and huge intensity. Not subtle or distinguished – this just keeps pounding you with different flavours.
So – not subtle – not polished – old school sulfur and intensity meets new school flavours..and..erm intensity. Not for everyone, but for me it a beautiful, wonderful mess that I adore.
Background: I have really been digging IPAs from Odyssey so far, so when I saw this small batch release from them at Independent Spirit it was a no-brainer on if I was going to grab it or not. I drank this after (finally) watching Force Awakens. It was ok I guess. Put on some Rise Against while drinking – mainly Endgame album, but added in “Prayer Of The Refugee” – again the whole anti immigrant hated shit going on currently is on my mind.
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