XV Anniversary
Odd Side Ales

 

Shared at the Green Bay tasting from a 12 ounce can, canned February 2025. Pours opaque brown/black hazy/turbid color with a small light khaki head with good retention and dense soapy lacing. Aromas of huge dark chocolate fudge cake. Taste follows with dark chocolate fudge cake, vanilla, toffee, marshmallow, wood, pine, herbal, grass. Light pine/char bitter finish. Medium carb and full body. Super silky velvety malt body. Lingering chalky roast drying. No acrid/astringent flavors. They must have been trying for black forest cake with this. No blackberry fruit character at all. Just rich malts and dessert characters.

 

 

 

Let this warm up to room temp and it opens up to be a damn good beer. Flavors blend well together. Blackberry wouldn't be my first choice to add but actually works with the vanilla.

XV Anniversary from Odd Sides Ales. Received from @Whyteboar in Barleywine and Stout BIF #2. 12 fl oz can. Received 26/02/25, reviewed 21/03/25 (Review 3478). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on the bottom rim “MFG 02/19/25.” Stored at home at 39 degrees F and served at 45.1 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 55.0 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same, with light penetrating the edges, amber.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.7 cm, aggressive center pour), caramel, high density and fizzy, average retention. Drops to a 0.3 cm crown and a thin, partial cap.
Lacing – Poor. Single EKG trace of tiny to near-microscopic bubbles.
Aroma – 3.75 – Distinctly chocolate. I can convince myself I detect marshmallow. No blackberries, no vanilla, no bourbon, no hops, no yeast, no alcohol.
Flavor – 3.5 – Begins with slightly bitter chocolate. No yeast, no hops. No alcohol (9.7 % ABV, according to the label). No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Faint gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium: approaching syrupy: lively carbonation.
Style: Pretty loose interpretation of the style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 3.75 Begins and ends with predominant bitter chocolate. At the final temperature, some blackberry appears. No marshmallow, no bourbon.

Rating 3.75 In general, a well-made stout. The flavor leaves much to be desired. Just because you can add something, doesn’t mean you should

I was hoping for one of their outstanding additive free BBA imperial stouts, but they seem to be set of dancing the edge of pastry stouts.
Poured stout black with a 4 cm light brown and rocky head which left sparse but regular lacing.
The taste is true to what they put on the label; blackberry and vanilla are prominent and the marshmallow aspect is present, but tastes like artificial flavoring. There is certainly the standard coffee and chocolate malt flavors which play better than expected with the additives. So if a blackberry-vanilla-marshmallow BBA Imperial stout sounds enticing to you, then by all means, this is your beer.
The feel is good, appropriate for the style. Light viscosity and a good sipping beer.
OA, well, they accurately portrayed the flavors that they were shooting for so it's well done, just not one I will buy more of.