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Odyssey
Allagash Brewing Company
- From:
- Allagash Brewing Company
- Maine, United States
- Style:
- Belgian Dark Strong Ale
- ABV:
- 9%
- Score:
- 94
- Avg:
- 4.24 | pDev: 9.2%
- Reviews:
- 426
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Oct 31, 2021
- Added:
- Jan 30, 2005
- Wants:
- 348
- Gots:
- 241
Allagash Odyssey is a dark wheat beer aged for ten months, a portion in oak barrels and the remainder in stainless tanks. The recipe includes 2-row barley, malted wheat, a generous amount of roasted barley and Belgian candi sugar. This deep brown beer boasts an aroma of black treacle and raisin. The flavor hints at dates, with a mildly roasted finish imparted by aging in both medium and heavy toast American Oak barrels. The finish is dry, punctuated by vanilla.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by BuckeyeNation:
Reviewed by BuckeyeNation from Iowa
4.85/5 rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
4.85/5 rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
Dark raspberry tea with a great deal of carbonation leading up to a gorgeous cap of golden ecru froth that filled more than half the glass on the pour. Backlighting brings out wonderful ruby highlights that make a fantastic looking beer look even better. Now this is how a BSDA should look.
The aroma is impressive. It was merely good initially, but with warming has acquired a power and a complexity that mirrors the flavor profile. With a wee bit more vividness and more definition, it could easily compete with the best Belgians. Hell, it just might do so now. I smell figs, tobacco and ground clove above all else.
Odyssey is amazingly delicious beer! Rarely, if ever, has my mouth been so awash in so many flavors that change from the beginning of each mouthful to the end. I've only had a few samples so far, but this might be the best BSDA that I've ever had. I bow before the brilliance of Allagash.
I'm not even sure where to begin in attempting to describe what I'm tasting. First off, this beer eschews power for nuance. That isn't to say that it isn't absolutely bursting with flavor, just that it's so refined and so angelic in the mouth that one doesn't feel as if they're being bullied the way that some big beers tend to do.
Sweetened fig puree, sticky dates, raisins, the finest oak-aged single batch bourbon, light molasses, dark toffee, plum jam, pipe tobacco, cloves... and on and on and on. Even though there's a considerable amount of sweetness, it doesn't come close to sticky or cloying. Like just about everything else about this beer, the sweet-bitter-sour balance is sheer perfection.
I originally felt that the mouthfeel was a tad too light to be deserving of the ultimate score. No longer. I can't imagine a more heavenly mouthfeel than the one greeting me with each and every sip... now that I'm well into the middle of the bottle. It's such a perfect (there's that word again) combination of suppleness, silkiness, light chewiness and buoyant carbonation that no other score is possible.
Allagash proved long ago that they're one of my favorite breweries in all the world. No other American brewer so reliably recreates the classically Belgian styles, and oftentimes meets and surpasses the best that that country has to offer. Simply put, Odyssey is an outstanding BSDA and is one of the best beers of any style that I've ever had the pleasure to drink.
Oct 08, 2006The aroma is impressive. It was merely good initially, but with warming has acquired a power and a complexity that mirrors the flavor profile. With a wee bit more vividness and more definition, it could easily compete with the best Belgians. Hell, it just might do so now. I smell figs, tobacco and ground clove above all else.
Odyssey is amazingly delicious beer! Rarely, if ever, has my mouth been so awash in so many flavors that change from the beginning of each mouthful to the end. I've only had a few samples so far, but this might be the best BSDA that I've ever had. I bow before the brilliance of Allagash.
I'm not even sure where to begin in attempting to describe what I'm tasting. First off, this beer eschews power for nuance. That isn't to say that it isn't absolutely bursting with flavor, just that it's so refined and so angelic in the mouth that one doesn't feel as if they're being bullied the way that some big beers tend to do.
Sweetened fig puree, sticky dates, raisins, the finest oak-aged single batch bourbon, light molasses, dark toffee, plum jam, pipe tobacco, cloves... and on and on and on. Even though there's a considerable amount of sweetness, it doesn't come close to sticky or cloying. Like just about everything else about this beer, the sweet-bitter-sour balance is sheer perfection.
I originally felt that the mouthfeel was a tad too light to be deserving of the ultimate score. No longer. I can't imagine a more heavenly mouthfeel than the one greeting me with each and every sip... now that I'm well into the middle of the bottle. It's such a perfect (there's that word again) combination of suppleness, silkiness, light chewiness and buoyant carbonation that no other score is possible.
Allagash proved long ago that they're one of my favorite breweries in all the world. No other American brewer so reliably recreates the classically Belgian styles, and oftentimes meets and surpasses the best that that country has to offer. Simply put, Odyssey is an outstanding BSDA and is one of the best beers of any style that I've ever had the pleasure to drink.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by brewandbbq from New Hampshire
4.3/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
4.3/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
750ml bottle from 2005.
Pours dark brown with crimson edgework. Decent retention with minor lacing. Oak with rum-soaked raisins in the nose. Medium bodied with a tacky, chewy mouthfeel. Rich malt with toffee, raisins, and booze on the palate. Finishes sweet, warming, and malty.
Oct 31, 2021Pours dark brown with crimson edgework. Decent retention with minor lacing. Oak with rum-soaked raisins in the nose. Medium bodied with a tacky, chewy mouthfeel. Rich malt with toffee, raisins, and booze on the palate. Finishes sweet, warming, and malty.
Reviewed by maddogruss from New Jersey
3.92/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.92/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Had this from a bottle.
A: pours black body with small, off white head with ok retention and lacing
S: subtle bitter chocolate notes; some sweetness
T: sweet, subtle chocolate notes with some sweet aftertaste; subtle coffee notes in the aftertaste
M: medium bodied and pretty smooth feel
D: nice mouthfeel and taste combo; pretty solid beer; smoothly aged in the oak barrel
Nov 21, 2020A: pours black body with small, off white head with ok retention and lacing
S: subtle bitter chocolate notes; some sweetness
T: sweet, subtle chocolate notes with some sweet aftertaste; subtle coffee notes in the aftertaste
M: medium bodied and pretty smooth feel
D: nice mouthfeel and taste combo; pretty solid beer; smoothly aged in the oak barrel
Reviewed by DaveMaciolek21 from New Jersey
4.02/5 rDev -5.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.02/5 rDev -5.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Dark copper with a generous, creamy head. First thing you notice is the deep roast flavor, and smoothness from oak barrel aging. Exceptionally smooth--like silk.
Apr 16, 2019Rated by erikcx from Massachusetts
4/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Good sipping beer, malt on the nose, chocolate with hint of caramel in flavor, nice long finish. Bought at the brewery, bottled 9/13/18.
Feb 03, 2019Rated by sd123 from Georgia
4.23/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.23/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Jan 2015 bottle
Dec 03, 2018Reviewed by nick_perry from North Carolina
4.7/5 rDev +10.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.7/5 rDev +10.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Black color, thick head. Oaky aroma from the 10 months of oak barrel aging. Usually I’m not a fan of barrel-aged beer but this is very good. Bit of an alcoholic aroma. Notes of dates and brown sugar, good roasted malt quality to it. Maybe a hint of vanilla on the finish. Little bit dry finish, despite the semi-sweet notes. Syrupy mouthfeel, would almost make a better winter warmer than something to have in the spring (especially at 10.4% ABV).
Mar 11, 2017
Odyssey from Allagash Brewing Company
Beer rating:
94 out of
100 with
1246 ratings
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