Name: Odd Side Ales
Location: Grand Haven, MI
Type: Brewpub(ish)
Available in DC Market: No
What you need to know: Whoever came up with the name for Odd Side sure nailed it. It’s a brewpub that doesn’t serve food, save for the occasional bag of pumpkin seeds. It bills itself as “one of the smallest breweries in the country”, but has already put out a huge number of beers in just over 2 year in business. And what beers they are – anyone up for Beet It, Peanut Butter Cup Stout, or Orange Cream Stout? These guys are tiny and imaginative to the extreme. Color me intrigued. NB: given their Lilliputian nature, not many people have had a chance to review their beers, so no grades will be listed.
Beer #1: Derelicte Pineapple IPA (American IPA / 6.0%)
Notes: Yes, there’s pineapple in Derelicte, but this is no Tiki drink. The few reviewers out there have praised its restrained fruitiness, which is said to play well with the solid malt backbone and classic American hop structure. With all of the tropical fruit character in West Coast IPAs, it’s amazing more people haven’t done something like this.
Beer #2: Mayan Mocha Stout (Stout / 7.0%)
Notes: At first, it’s full of java goodness; then comes the milk chocolate, bringing you back to your 3rd grade Tootsie roll binges; and just as you swallow, you catch the prickly, tingling hint of hot peppers. It’ll be interesting to taste Mayan with its peers (Sierra Nevada Hellraiser, Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero, etc.) in mind.
Summary: One look at their output to date and you know: Odd Side is no shrinking violet (although I could see them releasing something called Shrinking Violet in the near future). If you’re at all interested in trying beers you won’t see again in DC from people pushing the limits of brewing – and what else is SAVOR for? – I suggest you pay Odd Side a visit.
This profile is a part of the DCBEER.COM SAVOR Brewery Profile series. For more information, follow the link to see profiles of all 2012 SAVOR participants.
Beer Review Disclaimer: The beer reviews found on Beer Advocate and Rate Beer do not represent the opinions of this site. We provide these in the hope that they will serve as a resource showing what some craft beer fans have thought of the beers. These reviews can be a helpful guideline, but are not the be-all end-all about a beer’s strengths or weaknesses.
