Sleeping Prophet | Odious Cellars, Duneyrr, and Dutchbag
Reeve Joseph of Odious Cellars really has been putting in the work. Officially launched a year and a half ago, Odious brewed and released out of Pilot Project. Sometime last year, he moved in with his former co-worker Tyler Davis at the Duneyrr Artisan Fermenta Project space (formerly Motor Row Brewing). Sometime soon (hopefully really soon) Odious Cellar’s own space will be open and the sours will flow. But in the meantime, Reeve decided to collaborate with his roommates on Sleeping Prophet.
Sleeping Prophet is a sour saison aged on red and black raspberries, fig wood, and then dry-hopped with Belma. Odious Cellars has done a fair share of collabs recently (Revolution and Hammock Hospitality), so collaborating with Duneyrr and Dutchbag (the other roommate at Duneyrr and a former Pilot Project resident) was a no-brainer. Sleeping Prophet should bring about memories of the sour red ales of Belgium. Let’s find out!
The Beer
Sleeping Prophet pours a dingy red color; you could argue for copper-ish. Some nice crimson and orange highlights shine when placed in front of a light source. One finger of khaki head meets you as you pour, says goodbye and quickly leaves without a trace. Light is able to get through but I really can’t see my finger through the glass.
I know the can says raspberries but the first nose flavor off Sleeping Prophet was sweet cherries. Once you dig a little deeper you get a fair amount of juicy raspberry character. Wouldn’t go so far as to say you smell the seeds or anything like that, but it’s fairly jammy. A small hint of earthiness (think forest) comes through as well, along with some tartness, grain and a small yogurt note. Uh oh – yogurt note!
Thankfully that yogurt does not translate to the palate. Then again neither do the sweet cherries or the juicy raspberries. Tart raspberries dominate the flavor along with a nice little hint of bread or biscuit (or a grain of some sorts). Sleeping Prophet is a perfect spring or summer beer as it’s very refreshing. The tartness keeps you coming back and nothing really impedes you from drinking the whole can. But that’s it.
While I definitely finished my can, I wanted more out of the beer. More depth. More subtle flavors. It’s very one note – the tart raspberries – and not much else. The carbonation helps as well, leaving only some of that “come hither” tartness that encourages you to finish that can. For what it’s worth, my wife made some beer jerky and it paired very well with Sleeping Prophet.
Verdict
Sleeping Prophet reminds me of Half Acre’s Hot Hot Day that we recently had on our Grape Expectations show. Nothing bad, very refreshing, but lacking depth. I know the can says, “Nouveau Flanders Sour Red,” but I just want a little more out of it. Maybe a barrel to round things off? More fruit to add some nuance? Something. (Probably spoiled with the Odious Cellars bottled sours.)
There’s nothing wrong with the beer in the can. You’ll definitely finish the entirety of the can and probably want more. But it just feels like it’s missing some depth. The individual breweries involved in this collab all produce some delicious beer; this just missed the mark a bit.. As the weather warms, this beer would fit the definition of a cooler beer.
