Best When Shared

Brewer-Odell Brewing Company

Beer- Isolation Ale

Style- Winter Warmer

ABV- 6.00%

Description – Odell’s Isolation Ale pours a clear reddish orange hue with a huge rock off white head that sticks around for a long time before disappearing and leaving a very nice lacing on the glass.  The aroma is absolutely perfect for long winter evenings with notes of sweet malts, an almost sugar cookie like note cutting though, hints of spices, and just a touch of fruity hops.  The taste is dominated by malty sweetness of the biscuit and bread variety with a good amount of hop bite cutting through as well with some residual sweetness and herbal hop taste on the finish.  The medium body and mild amount of carbonation leaves a very clean, crisp, and refreshing taste on the palate.  This is a very well balanced and less heavy version of traditional winter warmers that tend to be very heavy and filling and can be difficult to drink more than one, however Isolation Ale is great to have on hand in larger quantities.  Isolation Ale is another world class example of a style brewed by Odell.

Food pairing – The wonderful body and malty sweetness of Isolation Ale make it a perfect companion for a wide variety of desserts.  Try pairing it will gingerbread cookies to highlight the subtle spices that cut through in the beer and the caramel sweetness will grab onto the sugar and never let go.  Isolation Ale is also great to have with a rich decadent German chocolate cake or pineapple upside cake with highlight both the malty sweetness and the hops within the beer.  Isolation Ale is also a perfect beer to cook with, try making some hearty spiced holiday bread or add it to your favorite steak topping for a wonderful reduction and flavor bonus.

The Final Word – Odell has garnered a reputation as a phenomenal brewery by producing fantastic beers such as Isolation Ale.  They also make unique statements on traditional styles and somehow make adjustments that create very drinkable versions of otherwise heavier beer styles.  Winter Warmers are traditionally very heavy and not for everyone in that the overly malty style can put many off.  However, Odell truly created something exceptional with Isolation Ale in that it is not only extremely approachable for everyone, but the malty sweetness is still present, just more well-balanced.  Isolation Ale is an absolute must try during the cold winter months.

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Where can I get it? -  Odell beer can be found in: AZ, CO, ID, KS, MN, MO, NE, NM, SD, and WY