Spruce Campbell
Odd13 Brewing

 

i have had this one in my fridge awhile, waiting for the right time to crack it. i love the art, the clever name, and the idea of a spruce stout, but man, i was really missing the spruce in this. its not piney at all, not from hops, and certainly not from tree tips, its just not there. there may be a slight evergreeny or rosemary aromatic, way behind the dark chocolate malt and roasted barley, but maybe its all in my head, a product of my desire for a really sprucy stout. odd13 has kept it real weird on the yeast side of things, so i also half expected this to be bretty or something, but its not. its evident that that base stout is superbly crafted, frothy and big, with a dry almost irish style aromatic, and an earthy grain build thats neither overly bitter, or overly heavy, probably some oats in here, some dark wheat too. its well designed, and it truly is the perfect launching pad for a spruce rocket, but there is a major failure to launch there, it just never comes. i like it as a stout, but its poor as a spruce beer. they should try this one again next year and multiply the spruce aspect by ten or more, and this will be epic. still a huge fan of these guys!