Doug ODell’s passion for craft beer started at Anchor Brewing Company in San Fransisco in the ’70s. There he was mostly just cleaning mash tuns so he eventually he moved to Seattle where he started to homebrew and met his wife Wynne. While they were on their honeymoon in the UK, they were inspired by a lot of the microbreweries there and then decided to take Doug’s passion to the commercial market.
However, Washington already had a large craft beer scene so they decided to look into other college towns. They landed in Fort Collins, Colorado because Doug’s sister lived there so they got together and opened up ODell Brewing in 1989.The original brewery was in a 1915 grain elevator not far from where the current brewery sits.
Their first beer to hit the market was Odell’s Golden Ale brewed pretty much entirely of malt and 90 Shilling came soon after and remains their top selling flagship
Odell is now the 22nd largest craft brewery in the country and they distribute to 18 states. They do brew a lot of different types of beers, Odell is built on British styles. Odell’s mantra is “Innovation and creativity meet balance, consistency and quality in each brew (Odell Brewing).” In 2015 the Odell’s sold a majority of the company to its workers (now co-owners).
So now that you know the history lets get into the beers:
Colorado Lager
Colorado Lager has been in the works for over a year now after many many test batches this beer is out. It comes in at a very approachable 5% ABV and built with Colorado water, American hops, and premium malted barley. This beer was brewed for Colorado and is everything Colorado is.
90 Shilling
As said earlier 90 shilling is one of the flagship beers for Odell. It is a very smooth Amber with a copper color and a very deep pleasant aroma. The name comes from the Scottish method of taxing beer and only the highest quality beers were taxed at 90 shillings. It is definitely worth every shilling.
IPA
Not only is this brewery very near and dear to my heart but this beer is because this was the beer that got me into craft beer. They took the traditional IPA and added a little bit more flavor to it. This 7% brew has highly aromatic American hops to have a very distinct bitterness to it.
Myrcenary
This beer is named after Myrcene which is “a component of essential oils in the hop flower. (Odell Brewing).” This Double IPA is a tribute towards those who admire the hop.
Mountain Standard
So what the heck is a mountain style IPA? Mountain style IPA’s are typically hazy and have a juicy hop aroma. This one sits at 6.5% ABV and is brewed with modern, American hops which bring tropical aromas like pineapple and mango. Mountain Standard is triple dry-hopped so that they don’t have to use fruit to accentuate the juicy aromas. The result is a very drinkable IPA with low bitterness and a slight haze.
If you guys wanna come try some of these delicious brews and a chance to win some cool prizes come by The Whining Pig in Desert Ridge Marketplace on Wednesday at 6 PM. Hoppy Travels!