Audio By Carbonatix
Odell Brewing is adding a new beer to its permanent lineup for the first time since 2007, when the Fort Collins brewer started selling its no-named IPA in six-packs.
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.
We’re thankful for you. Are you thankful for us?
We feel thankful for our staff and for the privilege of fulfilling our mission to be an unparalleled source of information and insight in Denver. We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community.
Help us continue giving back to Denver.
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.
Follow Westword‘s Beer Man on Twitter at @ColoBeerMan.
