Colorado Lager
Odell Brewing Company

 

On-tap in Meridian ID and served in a tumbler; textbook lager pour, straw-colored and clear with a small white head. Minorly sweet malty nose with impressions of earthy and floral hops. Crisp body, light and crushable, with hints of grassy hops and honey sweetness. Smooth and balanced and easy to drink.

12oz can. Poured out a clear, straw-yellow color with a small, off-white head of foam. It left minimal lacing on the glass. It smelled of caramel, grains, toffee and floral notes. Sweet caramel taste with toffee, biscuity malt and a mild, grassy bitterness.

 

 

L- Pale yellow 100% translucent beer with a 1F white head that fades quickly to almost nothing. Leaves fair amount of moderate lace. Light effervescing bubbles form center of tulip glass

N- Saltine Cracker, mild yeast notes

T- Saltine like malt, a hint of yellow or orange melon and a grassy or hay like aftertaste. Somewhat sweet but not in a doughy malt and yeast Helles way. The hops have a very lightly bitter vegetal taste that reminds me of something, maybe onion skin?

M- Mouthfeel is medium with slick clean feel. Carbonation fills the mouth more than looks would indicate. A subtle drying tones down the slickness on the finish, yet I feel a bit of thickness afterwards.

O- May have to have more of this. The taste is not as yeasty as some and has a unique hop flavor, not sure if it is totally appealing yet.

EDIT: Subsequent tastings reveal a musty hay note that is too strong and off putting especially at warmer serving temps. Adjusted down and waiting to hear from Odell if there may have been a QC problem on my recent batch.

Appearance: Pours a crystal-clear, light golden color with a soft white head. SRM of 7. (3.75)

Aroma: Soft aromas of pale malts, cereal malts, light lemon and honey flavors. Honey, sweet bread, pale malts. Mild, but complex. (3.75)

Flavor: Flavor follows the nose with light, but earthy honey, more pale malts, light sweet cracker and cereal malt. A little more crackery than the nose. Hints of flower. Finishes with a light crackery bitterness, but mostly sweet. Better as it warms. (4.00)

Feel: Medium-bodied, moderate carbonation. Leaves a light crackery sweetness on the palate. (3.50)

Compared to Surly First Ave 12/13/20: Pours a slightly lighter color with a milder head. Milder aromas/flavors. More sweet cracker and less lemonflower and tea.

Compared to Leinenkugal's Honeweiss 12/18/20: Pours a lighter and clearer color. More white cracker and honey. Much more smooth and less yeasty.

Compared to Trader Joe's Lager 2/17/21: Slightly lighter color. Similarly light aromas. More sweet honey malt and less bready yeast. Smoother and slightly sweeter. Overall, quite similar.

Compared to Firestone Walker's Jack Lager 2/19/21: Similar appearance. Slightly more honey on the aromas. Less white grains and yeast. Slightly more sweet bread and honey. A fuller and maltier body. Overall, quite similar.

Compared to Lake Monster's Como Claw 3/5/21: Pours a lighter color. More soft pale malts. Less bread, butter, lemon. Similar yeast. Crisper, dryer, and drinks more like a lager.

Compared to Spaten Lager 4/4/21: Pours a slightly lighter color. More earthy honey and flowery aromas. Less cracker, bread, and grassy notes. Overall, more hops, cracker, flower, and honey. Less bready and smooth. Leans more American and less authentically German tasting.

Compared to Stella 4/24/21: Pours a similar, slightly more pale color. More crackery, yeast, lemon flavors. Less earthy honey, and flowery hops. More lemon and pale malts. Less smooth honey. Yeastier, dryer,

4/29/21: 3 way comparison between Odells Colorado Lager, Firestone Walker, and Spaten lager:
Colorado Lager: Pale malts, lemon, finishes more light lemon & clean pale malts.
Firestone Walker Lager: Pale malt, lemon, honey flavors. Stronger drying yeast and crisper. More like a wheat.
Spaten Lager: Pale malts, bread malt, light lemon. Earthy. Slightly grassy. More earthy and bread. More German.

Overall: A very mild and tamed-drinking lager. Simple with tart lemon, mild, sweet white cracker and honey. Moderate and tame elsewhere. As others have said it's a bit one-dimensional for coming from a craft brewery. Sort of a light tart lemon to add to the pale malt profile. (Current Rating: 3.90)
*Compare to a light lemon beer, or Fulton Blonde*

 

 

Pours a clear golden yellow color with white head and lacing very nice. Smell has cereal grain ,malts, and grassy hops. A crisp clean pils like taste its grassy with hops with sweet bread.cracker malts. Crisp pure mouth feel with mild happiness, a great spring or summer brew. Would have again for sure.

6/26/19....pours bright clear gold with active bubbles and foamy white lid. Clean grainy nose. Straws. Clean light sweet taste. Light pils hop to close. Nice summer beer.

 

 

Appearance
Straw-gold, Mostly clear, generous and lasting head and lacing.

Aroma
Sweet pilsner malt, Weedy hops.

Flavor
Crisp pilsner malt, herbal American hops. Crisp, dry, clean finish, What Coors Banquet SHOULD taste like.

Mouthfeel
Light, highly carbonated, smooth and no astringency.

Overall
It's pretty good, it's like an all-malt PBR with the cannabinoid-tasting hops and crisp grains.

12oz bottle courtesy of my friends Abbie & Amanda,.who picked it up near the source. Best before date of November 9, 2019, per the stamp on the label.

Golden and clear in my Olympia pilsener glass. Nice white head that left a decent amount of lace.

Soft, floral and grassy hop nose. Mild, crackery maltiness.

Fairly light bodly, modestly crisp and clean mouthfeel.

Lightly grainy, with a nice, mild grassy hoppiness. Finished clean with a mild crispness.

A very nice, highly drinkable basic lager. Not remotely a flavor bomb but does what it's supposed to very well. If this were local I'd make it a regular summer fridge beer.

 

On-tap at Colorado Cherry Company, Windsor, CO

A: The beer is crystal clear yellow in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high bright white head that died down but never completely faded away.
S: Light aromas of pale malts are present in the nose along with hints of grassy hops.
T: The taste follows the smell and has flavors of pale malts with notes of mineral water and hints of grassy hops. There is a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer has a nice clean mouthfeel and has just enough in the way of underlying hops to contribute some bitterness.

Serving type: on-tap

12oz bottle, best enjoyed by 09/10/19. Thanks to Ken for giving me a bottle to try! Golden ale with a foamy off-white head. Floral & spicy hop aroma with some nutty honey-like grain. Flavors are well balanced and easy drinking with notes of lightly caramelized nutty grain, honey, slight fruitiness, more floral hop, and a touch of yeast. Medium body, smooth, with a crisp and clean finish. I'd drink a few of these on a hot day.

Floral hops take the lead in this unassuming lager, which manages to emphasize its hop profile without going overboard into imbalanced territory. Crisp pale malt and a hint of specialty malt (I think I find some amber) lend this a refreshing yet assertive backbone, keeping the hop bitterness in check.

Hints of toasted malt undertones. Maybe even molasses? It's got impressive depth of flavour for a straightforward American lager. All-malt to its benefit.

It's a tough beer to knock, but it's also far from impressive...just a refreshing highly drinkable lager with a nice hop profile. It'd be great with wings or pizza, and I reckon the kids would call it "crushable."

More solid work from Odell. A beer I'd be happy to see in Odell's variety boxes going forward - if only that didn't mean I wouldn't get to try another delightful new Odell creation. More proof Odell may well be Colorado's best widely distributed brewery.

B- / WORTHY