United Nations of Beer

Odell Brewing, Fort Collins, CO

by Lucia Novara
(Beer Delegate, CO, USA)

Odell Brewing
Fort Collins, CO, USA

The town of Fort Collins, CO is a beer drinker's mecca. It houses not only the widely-known New Belgium Brewery, but also Odell Brewing Company, Ft. Collins Brewery and Coopersmith's Brewery.

I once managed to get to three of the four in one day with a bicycle gang which almost ended with crashing said bicycle into the Cache La Poudre River (Sidenote: "Cache La Poudre" is French for "Catch the Pooter").

On a recent trip to the Fort I stopped in to Odell's Brewery with a crew of mighty drinkers, each one thirstier than the last. The tap room is a great place to hang out for an afternoon, with two different choices of samplers for $4 a pop.

I went with the sampler of pilot beers and found myself right smack in the middle of Tasty Town.

Reviews of the beers
Brett Barrel Red
IPA Nitro
Orange Blossom Honey ale
St. Lulupin EPA
Town Pump ale
Ze Bolshevik

Word on street is that the Brett Barrel Red isn't the only barrel aged brew Odell's is toying with these days. They just released a Bourbon Barrel Stout, which is rumored to have vanilla, chocolate and subtle bourbon flavors. It's aged for four months in bourbon barrels from a Kentucky distillery and is currently available in Belgium style bottles.

Also up and coming is a Brett Barrel Brown Kriek, a sour brown with wild yeast and cherries. Mr. Joey Schlitz of the National Barrel Aging Institute says, "All of us here at the NBAI are excited about Odell's new releases, as they support our hypothesis that everything can be improved by barrel aging: beers, nonfunctioning electronics, spouses."

Thanks Joey! I'm looking forward to getting to try these and 8,500 other samples at the Great American Beer Fest this month!