Odell Brewing - St Lupulin Extra Pale Ale

Tonight I'm going to try the St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale from Odell Brewing in Fort Collins, CO. 
This is a seasonal brew from Odell that features, of course, the hops.  There is a story on the label of the bottle that is too small for a picture...here it is:

"A mystical legend echoes in our brewhouse - that of St Lupulin the archetypal hophead,.  He devoted endless summers to endless rows of hops, tending to the flowers and the beloved resin within - lupulin.  Extraordinary oils in this yellow resin provide this dry-hopped extra pale ale with an undeniably pleasing floral aroma and clean, crisp finish.  One sip of this season summer ale and you too, will believe."

Speaking of lupulin, Steve and I brewed an IPA this weekend with fresh Cascade hops grown on his father-in-law's farm. This gave us an opportunity to inspect the hops, and when you peel apart the hop flower and look closely, you can see the little pockets of lupulin oils on the leaves.  Pretty cool!  We will devote a post to the brew-session and include pictures.

The color is golden straw with 1 inch of pure white frothy head.  The aroma is earthy and floral, sweet oily orange and a hint of pine needles.  The taste starts off with an assertive, bubbly bitterness.  Primary flavors here are pine resin and zesty citrus rinds.  Musty, herbal grassiness in the background, along with light grainy maltyness that lends just a tad of sweetness to the mix...reminiscent of honey.  The 6.5% alcohol is nowhere to be found.  The finish is dry with a bit of oily resin hanging on with it's lingering bitterness. 

Overall Rating:  This was a nice, well-balanced, hoppy EPA from Odell.  Easily one the best EPA's I've had in a long time - light, drinkable, refreshing.  I recommend this beer to go with a summer BBQ - it would compliment a big hearty dinner.  A-

Odell's - Mountain Standard Double Black IPA

Odell's Brewery was founded back in 1989 in an old converted grain elevator in Fort Collins, CO.  They were just the 2nd microbrewery to open in Colorado....which means they were among the first innovators to start the mega-wave of craft breweries that have started up in the state over the last decade.  Odell's only recently began distributing their beer in MN, so over the last year I've tasted many of their beers and become a firm believer in their ability to brew deliciousness.  I don't have a lot of experience with Black IPAs, but....if it's hoppy enough, there's a very good chance I'll like it, so I'm going to give this Mountain Standard Black IPA a try. 

This brew comes in a nice looking dark bottle with a little description of the brew on the label (pictured below).  The cork pops with a small wallop, doesn't rocket off like those weaponized bottles of champagne.  I'm pouring into a pint glass - the beer pours a dark brown/black and immediately billows turbo-charged tan colored head.  The head is a meringue texture, very sticky and it doesn't want to receed.  Once it finally does, it hangs around in small chunks that never really go away.

The nose is full of pine, grapefruit, and a bit of roasty dark chocolate - not overwhelming or fumey like some IPA's, probably because the roasted malts help to mellow it down.  The first taste is full of piney, bitter hops right away, followed by a roasted character that is intriguing.  The malt profile almost reminds me of a Schwarzbier - roasty/bready and also much lighter than a porter/stout.   It really plays well with the hop profile, which is not in the 'Hop Bomb' category, but a nice sturdy american hop profile.  There is a tiny singe of alcohol on the tail end of the drink, but nothing indicates this is 9.5% ABV.  The body of this brew is medium, with a relatively heavy amount of carbonation and a nice crispyness. 

Overall Rating (4.9 out of 6.0)  I really enjoyed this brew - I was happy to get both hops and roasted malts in the same drink.  The beer has already disappeared, and I hardly even realized it....yes this is incredibly drinkable.  And by the way, don't drink one of these if you need to drive anywhere.  It's a sneaky ninja alcohol hammer!