When I first went to Odell's, it was much smaller than it is now. The place was never that crowded but 90 Shilling was starting to get some notice around town. One of the owners of Odell's had toured a lot of Europe and had brought back, what I thought to be, really cool souvenirs. Beer companies in Europe used to have promotions where they would hand out bar towels with their slogan on them when doing promotions at the bar. The owner had amassed a large collection of these and they used to hang above the tasting room. I thought it was a cool touch and it made me think about the influence European beers had on his creations. Sadly, those went away as the place grew. Now it's a huge place that seems bigger each time I go.
We arrived and after several minutes of berating some poor soul who simply wanted to get some exercise by (muffled laughter) rollerblading to the brewery and then chaining them to the bike rack (see included picture and further humiliation in J's review), we ventured inside. I think I was nice enough to say something to the extent of "If we hate the brewery, we can always use the rollerblade picture as a metaphor for the type of people who come here". Not that we were prejudging or anything. What immediately bothers me about Odell's, is that the line you wait in to get your beer is smack dab next to all their merchandise. It reminds me of museum tours where they make you exit through the gift shop (good movie by the way), before leaving. My first note of the day says "Confusingly long line, why is this place have so many people?"
As J said, I got the Pilot Tray, he got the Standard Tray and we split the samplers. I set fire to the rims of all the glasses that J drank out of to avoid his boy cooties.
The O'Beers (see what I did there?)
Town Pump Ale 5.1% ABV
This is the whole reason I got this tray. There are two bars that I truly love in Fort Collins, The Trailhead and The Town Pump. Both are great places and I have had some of the best times of my life in them. The Town Pump is the oldest bar in Fort Collins and was a speakeasy during prohibition. It's tiny and only accepts cash and they soak various fruits in everclear that will knock you on your ass. This whole review makes me think of one of my favorite people, Vania, her of the wondrous knockers, and of times spent there with her. Smile. Anyway, back to the beer. This beer was a bit strange. I liked it but the flavor fades and ends on a somewhat different note than it started. It starts a bit hoppy but that flavor quickly goes away and the ending is more traditional ale in flavor. Good beer, not as good as the bar.
Rating: 8/10
Odell Red 6.5% ABV
As J said, upon reading over my first few reviews I had on at least two occasions started a review of a red with "I don't normally like red beers, but this one..." I was going to change my opinion on a whole class of beers if this one was good. But it was not. It has a smoky hops flavor to it. like they were going to make a subtle IPA but they burnt the hops somewhere in the process and then threw in some red coloring to cover the mess.
Rating: 4/10
First Random Quote- "There was a drunk baby" Don't really remember why I wrote this.
Helios IPA 6.7% ABV
I liked this IPA. It seemed a bit more like a cloudy wheat or a hefeweizen. There was not a lot of hops in the beer and unlike most IPA's, I could take more than a tiny sip at a time. Not a great IPA, but I would drink it again.
Rating 6/10
Cruise Control 5.8% ABV
I immediately dubbed this "The no-smell beer". Both J and I spent a minute or two trying to get some sort of odor preview of this beer, risking snorting the beer up our nose, but we got nothing. It's like they were going for a 1554 type flavor but pussed out. Actually some flavor despite the lack of smell.
Rating 5/10
(sigh) Black-ale-licious 4.3% ABV
Ok, to all future breweries. We get it. It's a play on words. You're quite the clever chaps. Now knock it the fuck off. I was immediately suspicious of this beer for two reasons. First- The stupid name. Second-If you read the description for this beer, it says that it is "Billy Dee Williams smooth". As much as I hate the dumb name, this boast pissed me off even more. Us people who remember the 80's know that there is only one thing that Billy Dee will drink.
This was actually not a bad beer, but holy hell, fuckin ease up on the promotion Odell. I will give it points though for sparking a lively conversation with J about Billy Dee and how now that Lando is a long fucking time ago, he would actually endorse this beer now that he is old and sad. My friend Victoria threatened to disown me if I rated this beer poorly so this is for her.Had it not been so boastful, Rating: 7/10 Actual Rating: 5/10
Nitro Cutthroat Porter 4.8% ABV
After a somewhat mediocre tray, this was a great finish. A great porter and probably my favorite porter so far. Very smooth flavor with a nice caramel and malt flavor. Nice finish with a hint of chocolate. Best beer of the tray.
Rating: 9/10
On to the standard tray.
Easy Street Wheat 4.6% ABV
This beer is the reason I never mind when people want to go to Odell's. Usually when I go, I avoid the samplers and simply get a pint or three of Easy Street. Easily their best beer and I (prepare yourselves) actually prefer this wheat to Sunshine. It is unfiltered which I love. Great subtle fruit and brightness to it. Why can't more of their beers be this good?
Rating: 10/10
Levity 5.1% ABV
This beer neither gave me a lightness of mind and character nor a lightness in weight. It has a nice crispness to it, but it is fairly unremarkable. Not a lot going on for flavor or aftertaste.
Rating: 5/10
5 Barrel Pale Ale 5.2% ABV
I initially liked this beer when it was first released. I am not sure why now. It is somewhat hoppy and bitter. Like a baby IPA that has not grown up. It finishes poorly and my mouth felt a bit dry after.
Rating: 4/10
90 Shilling 5.3% ABV
I looked up shillings to see what they were valued at in their time. Turns out they were 1/20th of a pound. So 1 shilling is equal to 1 of our nickles. Let me get my calculator out... (7 hours later) that means that 90 shillings would be $4.50. That is roughly what a pint of this will go for. Nicely done. I am not a huge 90 Shilling fan, but I do like the beer. It has nice caramel undertones and a nice aftertaste. Not the most remarkable beer in the world, but I finished the sample and enjoyed it.
Rating: 7/10
Rocky mountain IPA 7% ABV
Fuck this shitty beer. Terrible IPA. I'm fairly certain that hops are now an endangered species, because they all got crammed into this one glass of "beer". If you have read J's blog, he took a picture of the sampler after he had consumed all that he could handle. I did the same. The following is what was left after we had both had enough of the 4oz sampler.
Terrible. Not as bad as the IPA at Fort Collins Brewery, but pretty bad.Rating: .02/10
Cutthroat Porter 4.8% ABV
Thank god there was a good beer to finish. This is a great porter as well. Not quite as good as it's nitro version though. This tasted a bit more bitter and was not as smooth as the nitro. Still a great beer and a nice finish.
Rating 8/10
So that does it, at least for a few weeks, for the breweries in Fort Collins. We will be reviewing some Denver Breweries over the next few weeks. When we know where we are going next, we will post the details. Thanks, as always, for reading. We'll try and do better next time. Goodnight Canada.
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