Odell Brewing Company is a independent craft brewery based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Founded in 1989 by Doug Odell, Wynne Odell, and Corkie Odell. The brewery is celebrated for its hop-forward, balanced beers and deep-rooted employee-owned culture.
History & Ownership
- Family Founded: The brewery initially operated out of a 1915 grain elevator in 1989, inspired by founders Doug and Wynne’s travels in the United Kingdom.
- Employee-Owned (ESOP): In 2015, the Odell family transitioned ownership of the brewery to its co-workers through a management buyout and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
- Odell produces a wide variety of year-round and seasonal offerings
- 90 Shilling Ale: The company’s flagship beer—a smooth, complex, and medium-bodied amber ale with a distinct burnished copper color. 90 Shilling Ale gets its name from an old Scottish method of taxing beer based on its strength and quality.
- IPA: A highly popular, well-balanced India Pale Ale.
- Sippin’ Pretty Guava Lime Ale: A tart and refreshing fruited sour ale.
- Mountain Standard: A mountain-style IPA
Odell places a strong emphasis on environmental stewardship. Their brewery features:
- Carbon Recapture: Odell runs the largest carbon dioxide recapture system in Colorado’s craft beer scene, which eliminates 1.4 million pounds of carbon emissions every year. They also boast process improvements that save over 10 million gallons of water annually.
- Water Conservation: Custom modifications and grey-water reuse systems that have successfully cut water usage for brewing drastically.
- Alternative Energy: The Fort Collins facility utilizes 11,000 square feet of solar panels to offset energy consumption.
About Odell MDRN IPA
- Style: IPA – Characterized by floral, fruity, citrus-like, piney or resinous American-variety hop character, the IPA beer style is all about hop flavor, aroma and bitterness.
- ABV: 5.8% ABV
- IBU: 30 IBU
- Hops: HBC 638 and Chinook
- Malt: Pale and Vienna
- Appearance: Pours a light straw-gold color with a slight, beautiful haze and a thick white head.
- Flavor Profile: Orange citrus, pink grapefruit, and light berry, balanced by a very mild, crisp resinous bite on the back end
- Mouthfeel: Thin, not much flavor, no noticeable finish, smooth and dry.
- Food Paring: Street tacos, spicy coconut curry, citrus-enhanced chicken, jalapeno infused cheddar cheese.
Overall Impression: There is nothing about Odell MDNR IPA that made us stand up and take notice. On a scale of one to 10, 10 being best, both forward and finish flavor were akin to a pale ale. There was no noticeable “intense” fruit profile as suggested by other reviews of this 2026 release. It is, however, clean and dry with a touch of resinous notes on the back end.
Hopinionated Rating 3.5/5.0
Sip or Skip – Skip
Community Reviews & Comments
- Beer Advocate: This is an excellent and underrated modern style IPA. Bursting with tropical fruit notes; kind of took me off guard with how fruity it is.
- The Bitter Nib: Less malty than a classic IPA, not quite as bitter as a West Coast, considerably easy drinking.
- More akin to a pale than an IPA to my tastebuds due to the lower IBUs/hoppiness with good mouthfeel…Very quaffable and slammable.
- It pours a clear, pale gold with a fluffy white head and exhibits fantastic glass lacing. The nose bursts with a juicy, tropical, and lemon-forward citrus bouquet. Mike’s (sponsored) YouTube review.
- At 30 IBUs, it offers a softer bitterness compared to traditional West Coast IPAs. Some consumers feel it borders on an easy-drinking pale ale rather than a heavy-hitting IPA.
- Jugs_McGhee: C+ / ABOVE AVERAGE.
- Suds: This beer is essentially clear and gold in color with a yeast cloudiness. The aroma has a musty, tree-like hop scent (think wet forest). The taste brings some fruit forward….berries and melon rind. Full in body. Solid hop flavor throughout and with a moderate bitterness. Soft finish. This is really nice.
- russpowell: Easy to drink, flavors pop.
- jzlyo: Aroma is huge citrus/lemon and tropical fruit/almost Nelson Sauvin. The flavor is citrus/fruit, malts, a hint of caramel sweetness in the middle and a spicy hop/lemon candy finish.
- whynot44: The taste is grapefruit, light caramel base, hints of lemon, blood orange and other tropical fruits and grassy herbal hops with a touch sof pine, a bit tart, moderate bitterness. The body is light, good carbonation, crisp and very drinkable. Altogether, this is a very tasty and refreshing brew, should go well with most foods, especially hearty fare like barbecue, well done.
- HorseheadsHophead: This is an excellent and underrated modern style (hence the name) IPA. Bursting with tropical fruit notes; kinda took me off guard with how fruity it is. Similar to a lot of other modernized “no-coast” IPAs but a lot more fruits-forward than many. Highly recommended, this was a definite win from Odell.
- Bitterbill: The taste is nice bitter grapefruit citrus, some grass, only a slight hint of tropical fruit. Bitter finish with toasted malt throughout but in the back seat, so to speak. Mouthfeel is good, I would drink this again.
- blueshawk69: More akin to a pale than an ipa to my tastebuds due to the lower ibus/hoppiness with good mouthfeel; a subdued citrusy/fruity/juicy/tropical-kinda flavor and a clean, barely-there aftertaste. Very quaffable and slammable.
Explore Similar Beers to Odell MDNR IPA
- Mountain Standard IPA (Odell Brewing Co.): While slightly stronger (6.5% ABV), this is Odell’s “mountain-style” IPA, which shares a similar focus on juicy, hop-forward flavors and tropical fruit aromas.
- Hazy Little Thing IPA (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.): A widely available choice that shares the approachable ABV and explosive citrus characteristics of modern IPAs, offering a smooth and juicy profile.
- Bell’s Two Hearted IPA (Bell’s Brewery): Often compared directly to Odell’s classic IPAs, this Michigan favorite offers highly aromatic sweet citrus and a highly balanced finish.
- Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA (New Belgium Brewing): Another easy-to-find option that focuses on tropical and citrus fruit hop notes while maintaining a smooth, modern mouthfeel.
Have you tried Odell MDNR IPA? If so, let us know what you think about it and we’ll include your comment in our Community Reviews and Comments section.
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Cheers!
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