Odell 90 Shilling

Brewed by Odell Brewing Company
Style: Scottish Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

Color is on the amber/copper side, under a huge head of foam. Aroma is on the dry side, soft, herbal, slightly floral, vegetal. Hops are minimal, malt is huge and thick. Taste is a little mellow for me, and a bit too sweet. Drinks well, slides easily down the tongue. Full, rich, malty mouthfeel, but a little too low on hops for my taste. A fine micro Scottish, but not for me.

Drank on Thanksgiving 2004 in Denver, CO. Draft at 1515 Market. Copper pour with medium white head. Roasted malt aroma, smells nice. Those malts are the first thing to hit you. Nice roasty start, sweetening through the middle and finishing with a creamy texture. This was a nice beer.

Pale brown color with orange highlights and a white head. Toasted, malty aroma. Upfront bitterness leads to a toasty malt flavor, some sweetness, and milk that just gets bigger and maltier into its long finish. This is my favorite offering I have had from O’Dell’s.

Clear ruby red body, average sized creamy off-white head. Light aroma with an earthy and chocolatey caramel malt and a touch of hops. Flavor.... also malty and light. An easy drinker as though it is predominently malty, it isn’t overly sweet.

Pours amberwith no significant head. Nose is malty and sweet, like citrus/grapefruit. Flavor is mild caramel and raisiny. Finish is lightly sticky.

Draft... Pre-GABF-Falling Rock Tap House, Denver... Clear copper ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Great retention. Yeasty, malty aromas of biscuit and white bread with additional notes of honey and spent grain. The flavor is perfectly balanced, but there’s not much to it. Medium-bodied and fizzy. Short, crisp, clean finish.

What the... Simply not Scottish in my opinion. Reviewing it as such is probably a disservice, but they named it and claimed it. Too much hop for a Scottish. I had it on draft last night, and the malt was more prevalent. From the bottle: I smell a pine forest in my pint, and the excessive carbonation makes it explode over the palate. There’s malt around the corner, but kept at bay by the bittering, dry hop finish. There’s a little caramel in there and some dried fruit hanging from the large hop whine. It makes for a decent amber. If my buddy served it to me and said he made it, I’d give him kudos. It’s a nice homebrew. It’s not Scottish, and it’s not exciting no matter what you call it. The hopping is boorish, and masks what is good about the beer, a nice malting. They call it a cross between an English pale ale and a Scottish ale. Uh, okay. That combination is dumb. Naming this beer "90 Shilling" is dumb. It’s a drinkable American ("Colorado ale" as they call it) amber. This is an average micro-beer 10 years beyond deserving recognition. Now it’s just a quaint player in a market full of dynamic offerings.

The smell was very earthy, citrus hops, light malt flavor with some grasses...very herbal. Nasty. Very earthy taste. Some citrus flavors from the hops and some caramel from the malt. Some grasses and robitussin as well. Blah! There wasn’t much flavor to speak of. Nice balance between the malt and hop bitterness though.