I can't think of a good reason for a brewer---amateur or professional---not to attempt some wizardry in their alcoholic medium. And with the Great American Beer Festival on the Mile High City's horizon, now is the perfect time to exercise those big beer-drinking muscles. I started my workout with Odell Brewing's Deconstruction Ale. The Fort Collins brewers combine four different batches of the golden ale to complete the final product. They worked backwards to get the flavor just right. Brewer Joe Mohrfeld explains:

"Drawing on inspiration from Jacque Derrida's theory of Deconstruction and the way it works to expose the intricacies of a text, we developed a process of brewing that first deconstructs the complexities desired in the finished product, thereby revealing how to achieve these characteristics through the process of brewing." Pop the champagne-like bottle top on this new new addition to Odell's Single Serve Series, and be prepared for a combination of beer aged in oak, bourbon, and wine barrels. Don't be fooled by the golden-ale label, though: Deconstruction is not for the casual beer drinker. This brew feels more like a glass of red wine on your palette than a crisp beer. And it's full of flavor: subtly sweet at first but with a finish that will remind you of a Sweet Tart. Deconstruction Ale is a limited-release bomber.