Brew Q&A: Fifty Niner
To celebrate our deep Colorado roots, we’re paying homage to the gold rush of 1859 with the July 11th release of our latest Cellar Series beer, Fifty Niner. This Brett Golden Ale is bottle conditioned with 100 percent Brettanomyces—in fact, we used a wild strain of the yeast grown in our lab—and finished in a stainless fermentor filled with oak staves. The process created an ale that is creamy and robust, with hints of vanilla, almond, graham cracker and subtle fruitiness.
Quality Control Manager Eli Kolodny, along with Lab Technician Tony Rau and a plethora of other Odell Brewing folks, put a lot of passion into this project. He chatted with us about the process, in hopes of helping beer enthusiasts better understand what makes this brew a rush of gold on the palette.
Q: What was the inspiration behind Fifty Niner?
A: One of the Woodcut Series beers was aged with Brettanomyces and we really loved the way it turned out, so we wanted to replicate that. This one is the first beer that we’ve 100 percent bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces.
Q: How does the Brett yeast affect the beer?
A: It takes a lot longer in the bottle than our normal conditioning yeast, and it produces almost all of the aroma compounds that you get. All the fruity characteristics and all the fruity aroma compounds are yeast derived. So it’s a defining characteristic of the beer. A lot of our other bottle conditioned beer is just [bottle conditioned] to provide bubbles. This is more about the character of the yeast.
Q: What other unique ingredients did you enjoy working with while brewing Fifty Niner? How did they change the brewing process?
A: We used Belgian Candi sugar and light- and medium-toast oak staves. If you’re a chef, and all you’ve been cooking with is vegetables, but then you throw chicken in there, it’s another whole level of complexity you can develop characteristics with. It’s a completely different color palette.
Want to learn more about your favorite Odell beer? E-mail us a Brew Q & A request!
Independence Day Montage
This year we’re celebrating our independence the best way we know how: sitting around a table with our closest friends, eating barbecue and drinking some of our favorite Odell brews. Yep, it’s time for our annual July 4th Beer Dinner.
In traditional fashion, we decided to create a menu with our Summer Montage Variety Pack – three courses prepared or paired with 90 Shilling, IPA, St. Lupulin and Perle White. We hope your taste buds thank you while you sit back and thank your country. Here’s to our independence!
July 4th Summer Montage Beer Dinner
Serves 4
Appetizer: Spicy shrimp and St. Lupulin ceviche
This “delicate” beer (as described by tap room manager Kailey Schumacher) goes well with equally delicate seafood, spicy foods, and heartier grilled meats, making it the perfect pairing for our meal. Use a quarter of the beer in the ceviche and save the rest to pair with the main course!
Entree: IPA barbecue pork ribs
Pairing: The leftover St. Lupulin
These grilled barbecue ribs are bold and spicy – the perfect combination with an IPA. The sweetness of the sauce pairs well with the bitter hops, and adds a punch of flavor when the ribs are slow-cooked through the afternoon.
Dessert: 90 Shilling Orange Cardamom Caramel Sauce
Pairing: Perle White
To continue our theme, we chose the Perle White IPA paired with a bold, sweet caramel dessert. An herbal and fruit-like hop character in the Perle White mingles with the delicate wheat for a clean crisp finish, and the 90 Shilling amber ale creates an irresistibly smooth and delicious caramel sauce – perfect for dipping.
IPA Lemon Bars
Here at Odell Brewing, we’ve decided that nothing goes together quite like hops and lemons. That’s why this IPA Lemon Bar recipe is our go-to for a summer treat. The hops cut the sweetness of the bars in that oh-so-perfect, must-go-back-for-seconds kind of way. Thank you to our friend The Beeroness for allowing us to share this recipe with you. We used our classic IPA – American style, with new varieties of highly aromatic American hops to create a distinctive bitterness profile and an incredible hop character. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Crust:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
6 tbs unsalted butter
pinch salt
Filling:
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup flour
2 tbs corn starch
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup IPA beer
Powdered sugar for dusting
Yield: 10 to 12 cookies
Directions
In a food processor add the flour, powdered sugar, butter and salt. Process until well combined.
Press into the bottom of a greased 8X8 pan (for a 9×13 pan, double the entire recipe).Chill for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool to about room temperature, about 15 minutes (this will help the crust and the filling to stay in two distinct layers.)
In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour and corn starch. Add in the lemon juice and beer, stir until combined. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Bake until the center has set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before refrigerating. Chill for 2 to 3 hours before cutting. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
*Permission to use recipe granted by Jackie Dodd of The Beeroness.
