Odell Easy Street Wheat

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

Orange with a smallish head. Smells like an orange. Some wheat and husk aromas. Slight wheat in the flavor, not much else. Maybe a little citrus. Tangy, yet crappy.

Draught at the Sidewinder Pub in Jackson, WY
Light gold haze, light head, no lacing. Nose of light wheat, lots of husk and citrus. The flavor is similar, bland citrus, lots of wheat and notes of boring.

Bottle: A little cloudy light orange color. Decent white head. Wheat and citrusy aroma and flavor. But it had a funkiness to the aroma as well, not present in the flavor though.

Cloudy, peach color with medium sized, white head. The aroma is wheat, citrus with a faint metallic note. The flavor is orange, lemon, bubblegum and wheat. Mouthfeel is light and lively.

12 oz bottle. Pours a slightly opaque orangish yellow, with an off-white head and semi-active carbonation. There’s barely a scent; a sweet aroma at most. The taste is incredibly smooth with a perfect balance between the hops and the citrus taste that lingers within this great wheat beer. It’s medium-bodied, yet bubbly on the tongue, with a smooth finish as well.

Bottle Poured acloudy golden yellow with a lasting white head. Aromas of wheat malt, yeast and a hint of citrus. Palate was light bodied and smooth. Flavors of bread, yeast, And a bit of citrus with a crisp, clean finish.

2/11/06 (bottle): Thought for sure I’d had this previously, but guess I hadn’t rated it yet. Poured a pleasantly bright orange-yellow with a nice yeasty swirl and a billowing head that quietly settled. Good orange-citrus aroma. The flavor was somewhat boring when I compare to some of the better American wheats I’ve had ... only a mere wisp of yeast or citrus ... just a mellow malt and a hint of the former. However, this is mellow and evenly balanced and I could easily enough take down a number of these without complaint.

Wheat beers are far too easy to tread on, far too prone to excessive indulgence, and never properly imbibed. With that said, I rated the fairly far and widely available Easy Street Wheat, a direct Colorado competitor with Flying Dog’s In Heat Wheat and New Belgium Sunshine’s, all vying for the eager palates of more discerning youth. When I do meet the occasional college student whose interested in trying a beer that’s a “step up” from the average keg available at the nearest frat house of debauchery, they seem to lean towards the wheat beers. I hypothesize that it’s the gentle and inviting flavor of wheat beers in general that permits the explorative nature of some to move beyond the plane of American swill. Anyhow, I had the Easy Street in a casual potluck type setting, to which it seemed well suited. The color is a dull and lifeless gold, filled with sediment that leaves nothing to awe at visually. The smell is also a simple front; the general wheaty characteristic smell with an insufficiently curative citrus outline. As for the taste, it is a simple metallic wheat blend, with the same plain lemon element. I imagine the Easy Street could be perked up with a slice of lemon, but overall it’s generally a low quality wheat, especially compared to what is available on the market. Beer for dollar Hoegaarden will get the job done better, and it comes with a sense of European sophistry, which Odell is clearly lacking. Easy Street Wheat is a nice effort for a wheat beer, and probably a good stepping stone for the uneducated beer neophyte, but completely inadequate for the more experienced drinker or for anybody who has a lust for the unique style that is the wheat beer.