Odell Extra Special Red Ale

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

Tasted 11/24/07. 12oz bottle. Clear with a tapering hue from dark brown to ruby. Slight off white head. Soapy hop nose. Sweet malts. Medium but more so full bodied. Sticky malt bready flavors mixed well with the bitter hop palate. Smooth sweet flavors. Toffee and bready. Almost rye flavor. Citrus touch in the middle that finishes dry with an array of hop flavors. Citrus and grapefruit mixed with a nice dose of coffee acidity. Good drinking with a touch burn. Too thhick for a session, but to easy for a sipper. Right inbetween and delicious. Rye caramel and coffee. Peppery oranges and grapefruit. Great high gravity flow. Great balance. Big beer, but so approachable. Another winner!

12oz brown bottle served in a shaker pint. Poured a hazy amber. Not sure if it was bottle conditioned, but there appeared to be a thin layer of yeast in the bottle. Fine bubble off white head, less than a finger. Some citrusy hops in the aroma and lots of malt and some fruitiness. Medium body with plenty of malt. Lots of hop bitterness. This beer didn’t do much for me. I had a hard time trying to place the flavor that I didn’t like in this beer. It had a bit of a sour tang to the malt in the flavor and aroma. Bigger is not alway better. I’ve liked the other beers in their Single Batch series.

Thanks to Arrogantb for this nice bonus beer. Pours orange/ruby with a moderate off-white head. At first the aroma consists of citrus and flowery hops, slight pine, with malt in the back. Cinnemon and brown sugar come through shortly. Then the aroma becomes too oddly flowery for me after 30 minutes. A caramel and dirt/clay malty flavor, only slightly sweet, flowery perfumey hop flavor, some citrus. Bitter toasty flavor on the finish, malty sweetness fade. Aftertaste of old caramel, wood, citrus and flowers. Medium bodied, full texture. Effortless and drinkable texture. Not hot. Another drinkable and mostly good beer from Odell.

Had this beer on 11/12/2006. Aroma is a sweet roasted malt scent. Color is a deep amber with low carbonation and a thin head. Taste is rich and roasted. Starting with a full/medium body it goes down with a rich feel. Finish comes on with a full malt flavor that is roasted and a bit sweet then ends with just the slightest bitterness. Its a full rich Amber Ale, but its nothing special nor is it very hoppy as the name leads you to believe. Its just not a beer I would buy again at the $10 for a 6pk price.

(bottle from irishboy)reddish/brown body with a creamy white head.aroma is of pine hops and caramel malts.the flavor is of caramel malts,some brown sugar,and a small pine hop finish.

Pours a dark mahogany red with small head. Really nice hop citrus aroma. Great hoppiness on the palate along with a grassy-fruity-malt taste. This one is really nice.

Distinctive 12 oz. Odell bottle, blurb along the right side of label, and on the bottom left, below the barcode, is a bottling date (2.20.07), sampled in a tulip glass. The appearance is making me wonder if this is an Imperial Red Ale, transparently clear, bright reddish copper color with a frothy off-white head that slowly settled in a thin creamy skim lacing, small amount of ringed sticking. Sweetly floral and citrus nose, a little pine perfume out at the edges. Light backing from toasted grainy and caramelized malts. The alcohol is estery, hiding it’s strength. Ample carbonation buoys the crisp light body, smooth and because of the 8% ABV, dangerously easy to consume. The hops are prevalent in the taste, softly bitter, citrus and oily pine needles, the end brings out a rough dry leafiness. The malts have an underlining sweetness, complementing the hops, caramelized and touches of toasted grains. Finishes dry, sweet from both the citrus hops and caramelized malts, lingering leafy bitterness in the aftertaste. The alcohol is well masked, just a fruity low temperature warmth in the back of the palate. A pretty good ASA, an interesting take on the red ale. Whenever I have a friend travel west and cross the Mississippi River, I tell them to look for beers from Odell, this is another good reason why you should.

Nice amber color, with a thin tan head. Aroma is malty, with a nice hoppiness, light dried fruit. Taste is a fruitiness, followed by a piney hoppiness, light caramel, somewhat soapy.