5 Barrel. An English Pale Ale With An Odell Twist.

5 Barrel Pale Ale
English Pale Ale

ABV: 5.2%

Odell Brewing Company

Ft. Collins, Colorado

http://www.odellbrewing.com/

"Doug Odell's passion for crafting great beer started in his kitchen in Seattle. After the demand for his home-brew grew, Doug-along with his wife Wynne-searched for a good location to take Doug's passion commercial. They moved to Fort Collins to be closer to Doug's sister, Corkie, who quickly joined forces with them in opening the brewery in 1989. "--from Odell Brewing's website

Ft. Collins, Colorado? Sure, everybody knows New Belgium Brewery, but Ft. Collins isn't just Fat Tire's domain. There are some smaller breweries that call Northern Colorado home and their brews are nothing short of amazing, too.

Odell Brewing is one of them and 5 Barrel is one of their outstanding brews.

Appearance--A fluffy, almost white head tops this beer and it leaves a lot of lacing on the side of my pint glass as I quaff it down. The brew itself is a very nice orangy/copper color.

Smell--My nose gets a good dose of a very nice malt aroma, but I am also smelling a heavier dose of hops, too. A nice twist for this English Pale Ale.

Taste--This brew is a bit of a changeup. While many Pale Ales bust your chops with heavy flavors, 5 Barrel's taste is more subdued. Yep, you will taste the wonderful, bisquity taste of the malt and, the additional citrusy, earthy hops, but each flavor is more subtle in this beer.

Aftertaste--Again, the aftertaste is muted, much like the taste, and I don't mind that a bit. As you swallow, you feel the tongue bite of the hops, but it isn't overpowering. The beer leaves some of its malty and hoppy flavors behind, but it finishes nice and clean.

Overall--I usually taste more of the bready malt flavors when I drink an English Pale Ale than when I have a pint of its American cousin. Odell's 5 Barrel is spot on with its malty goodness. The cool thing that the Odell gang did with 5 Barrel is they used whole fresh hop flowers when they brewed it, so its hoppy flavor really shines through, too. It is that little twist that makes 5 Barrel a very special beer.

Bottom Line--"Is 5 Barrel on tap? Oh yes, I'd love a pint!"

Speaking of Odell, they just announed they will roll out their Bourbon Barrel Stout on Sept. 7th. It will be a big, bold Imperial Stout (10.5% ABV) that has been aged for 4 months in bourbon barrels from the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky. It will be available in all 8 states where Odell's brews are found (Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri and Arizona) in 750 ml bottles, corked like a fine champagne. Bourbon Barrel Stout is the first of new series, which will include an India Barley Wine and an all Colorado hopped beer that are coming out later this year.