Myrcenary, a double IPA named for an organic compound found in hops, will hit liquor-store shelves in early March. Weighing in at 9.3 alcohol by volume, it's a big beer with a big price: probably around $10.99 for a four-pack.
"This is the first time we've done a four-pack," says Odell spokeswoman Amanda Johnson. "A handful of companies are doing that for some of their bigger beers. For us, it makes sense. It's a way to offer a bigger beer year-round, and it gives people the opportunity to try something different."
This spring, Odell will also bring back its double pilsner as a seasonal beer, this time in four-packs, and the brewery plans to roll out four-packs of its Mountain Standard fall seasonal in November. Mountain Standard is a double black IPA.
But before you can get it at the store -- or even at the Odell brewery -- it will be on tap exclusively at Old Chicago locations in Colorado and eight other states beginning tomorrow. The beer will be tapped at Odell three days later, at 4 p.m.
Old Chicago was Odell's first client when the brewery opened in 1989, and the two have had a relationship ever since, Johnson says. Eventually, Myrcenary will be available on tap at some other restaurants and bars, as well.
Odell's deal with Old Chicago is a larger version of a new craft beer program that the restaurant chain rolled out late last summer in which it pairs with an individual brewery to make an exclusive beer for a limited time. Tommyknocker, Boulder Beer, Oskar Blues and Breckenridge have all made beers for Old Chicago's Colorado locations. Ska Brewing is next on the list."We're taking it to a new level right now and having some with it," says Old Chicago spokesman Mark Newman. "The goals is that every beer will be unique."
Newman says it's a chance for the breweries to "mass-produce something that they might have already been playing with." Old Chicago guarantees a certain amount of sales to the brewery, and the brewery's cachet brings customers to the restaurants.
Myrcenary is part of Old Chicago's St. Pat's Mini-Tour, which runs February 23 through March 17. Boulder Beer has also made an ESB for the Tour called Bitter Leprechaun.
