Wolf Picker Experimental IPA 2021
Odell Brewing Company

RB transfer

From a 12 oz can purchased as a single, best by 4/21 and today is 4/25, so…oh well. Looks great in the tulip, hazy bright gold with a generous and thick one and a half finger head, great retention and fantastic lacing. Nose: not too powerful, but some subtle floral and sweet herbal and very mild spicy notes. Taste brings a bit more lemon into play, but it isnt sweet or bitter or tart, and there’s no rind either; strange. Wait, there’s some mild honeydew and watermelon in there that took a while for me to put a finger on. Maybe just a bit of watermelon rind, too. Smooth but nondescript bready almost creamy malt. There’s a little herbal/peppery liveliness at the end, but for an ipa, this is incredibly smooth and a little muted. Maybe it is too old to get the best from it. Everything fits together really well, the balance is perfect, but…I expect better from Odell. Still, interesting experiment, insofar as this doesnt really taste like any other beer I’ve tried for awhile.

 

 

 

 

"Best by 6/8/22"; drank 3/5/22 @ the Yarchives.

Cloudy orange/yellow appearance.

A rough pour yielded a big, noisy white head; strong, frothy tree-rung lace.

Watermelon jolly rancher, marmalade & pine notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel. Watermelon Jolly Rancher, pine & fresh soap flavors.

Not my ideal flavor profile, but it's OK in a pinch.

I honestly can't decide if I really like this beer or not. The hop blend is so different that it kind of threw me. I've had a million hazy and clear IPAs of late, trying to find one I can actually drink, and they all start to run together after a while. This one was unusual. It's not really piney, and definitely not citrusy, but maybe grassy, but not dank or bitter. So that should be a good thing for my palate, since I don't go for the really hoppy stuff no matter what the dominant flavor is. Maybe I'll come back to this in a while and see if my taste changes.

Gold in color with a lightly hazy complexion. There’s a half inch of frothy off white on top. Light soapy lacing is present. The aroma is of citrus and lemon. I’m tasting lemon, lime, and citrus hops. There’s also a bit of crackery light malt. The mouth is lightly resinous and refreshing.

 

BOTTLE from Odell's latest variety 12 pack box.

Has a nice hop profile and it's extremely drinkable, but their marketing of a 5.5% ABV beer as an IPA seems disingenuous at best. Still, it has more hop pungency and depth of hop flavour than most IPAs I've tried in the last year.

Mango, subdued tropical fruit, floral hop flavour, resin.

B- / WORTHY

 

Smooth and tasty experimental ipa with what I can best describe right now as unique herbal notes and spicy pine notes.

Appearance - Light gold to yellow. Low amount of haze. White crop of foam dissapates and leaves a small amount of lacing.
Aroma - Medium tropical fruit aroma, pineapple and mango. Low lemon citrus. Not much malt detected. Hop forward. Clean fermented character.
Flavor - Similar to aroma character, tropical and some citrus. Low to medium bready malt providing template for hop flavors. Clean bitterness throughout with a nice dry finish and hoppy aftertaste.
Mouthfeel - Medium body IPA that drinks easy. Medium carbonation. Well balanced and crip feeling on the palate.
Overall - Enoyable IPA with some flavors and aromas that are not in lock step with your typical IPA. Malt character supports the hop flavors well without mucking up the package. Hop forward and drinkable. Tropical and citrus blend well. Happy to have five more in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

Was excited to try this after hearing good things

A: Lemony with a touch of earthy pine

S: Straw yellow with noticeable haze. Healthy off white head

T: Lemon pepper comes to mind. Lemony/citrus forward interrupted by bine-like herbal bitter. Bready cracker is there but not obvious. Balanced and pleasant with unique and somewhat strange hoppy-ness.

MF: On the lighter side of basic. Moderate carbonation fits well.

Overall: Drinks more like a pale ale with a unique hop profile.

Poured from a can into a tulip glass a 2.5F off white foam head is formed. Loos lace covers the sides as it settles. Color is orange tinged deep yellow and foggy with lots of tiny effervescing bubbles. Overall about 70% opaque.

On the nose I get pure grapefruit, vegetal green onion, a yeast note and light pine with a hint of salty air.

Tasting reveals some tea like lightly bitter tannins a bit of mild grapefruit pith and some peach notes. A subtle malt sweetness carries through the smooth creamy clean fresh water texture. Well balanced with subtle nuanced flavors shows a deft making hand.

Mouthfeel is slick and a bit cloying on the finish. Body is rather light with a little malt fullness to round it out.

Overall a nice IPA and one that is a welcome departure from Odell's stronger offerings. While this is a very good beer, I prefer mountain standard for a more upfront fruit presentation