Odell Brewing Company - Fernet Aged Porter

Odell’s Fernet Aged Porter is actually a blend of 50% porter and 50% porter that’s aged in Fernet barrels via Leopold Bros. Distillery. As Odell notes: “Their distinct Fernet includes lavender, honeysuckle, ginger root, bitter aloe, dandelion root, rose petals, chamomile, and peppermint.” Inspired by the framework of dark, minty liqueurs, Odell combined the core elements of minty licorice barrel notes with the base of a chocolate-malt-forward porter.

And the net result felt just as fresh to us as the brewery’s Trellis Garden Ale: both of these herbal-minded beers bursting at the seams with nuance from those respective additions of a spicy/herbal barrel and, for Trellis, simply spices and herbs. This is Trellis 2.0, with all those vibrant layers coming from a liqueur, and serving as a secondary note to well-roasted porter.

That combination goes great—the porter developed densely in its own right: milk and bitter chocolate, roasted malts to spare, and some licorice angles seeming to come for both barrels and malts. Like these other Odell offerings, we were struck by how everything fit together in a way that didn't feel forced. The oakiness underneath everything seems to serve as one of a number of solidifying elements, offering vanilla and nuttiness and a warming wood undertone to the whole endeavor. 100% bottle conditioned, feel free to set some bottles down for a bit.