Sent to me in a beer mail package (thanks Billy) I eagerly waited for the beer to settle down a little before opening. I’ve always enjoyed Odell’s bottle designs and this one was no exception. Then I read the short bio on the label and realized that even the beer’s name was pretty cool. So I decided to geek out a little.

Myrcene is a hydrocarbon compound found in most citrus fruits and also in the resin of hop flowers. According to Dr. Lee W. Janson in his book title Brew Chem 101: The Basics of Homebrewing Chemistry, Myrcene is responsible for contributing that intense pungent taste and a floral or herbal quality.

Myrcene diagram

Diagram of Myrcene

Most hoppy beers are best enjoyed fresh since the hop oils tend to break down quickly once oxidation or oxygenation take place. Interesting Dr. Janson goes on to say,

“Dry Hopping actually extracts less oxygenated products than flavoring or aromatic hop boils, leading to increased intensity and stability…therefore, the flavors and aromas of these hydrocarbons are probably present only when dry hopping is used.” (p. 23)

This makes complete sense as this beer was bursting with a wonderful hop bouquet. It was citrusy and very juicy. Hints of peach, kiwi, mango, mandrin orange, tangerines, pine, and grapefruit were present. The light malt gave some background sweetness helping to boast the fruity aspects. It had a great golden color and fluffy white head.

I found out from Joe, the head brewer, that they implement 11 hop additions from Kettle to Dry Hopping at a whopping 6.5lbs per BBL. And boy does it payoff. There is a pungent stickiness to the palate, tongue and back of throat. Interestingly enough it has a pretty clean finish, but the hops linger in the aftertaste. The malt base adds some caramel notes that are welcomed.

As I sat drinking Myrcenary and reading about mycrene, this beer won me over. It was lively and had a spring or step to it. Almost an up-beat sort of feeling. I found myself in those rare moments as a beer reviewer wishing the moment wouldn’t end.

Odell Brewing Co., thank you for a glass of goodness. Myrcenary ranks up there with the likes of Founders Double Trouble, 3 Floyds Dreadnaught, Firestone Walker Double Jack, and Bells Hopslam.

Extra thanks to Joe Mohrfield, the Head Brewer at Odell, who we were able to reach for comment: All of us at Odell could not be happier with how this beer turned out and without such a talented team of brewers we would have never been able to overcome the challenges we are faced with when brewing this beer. The amount of hops we use late in the kettle and the hopback present the challenge of actually being able to get all the hops in without clogging the hopback and heat exchanger with this incredible hop load… a hop load I am sure our NSI brewhouse was never designed to handle. Take those hop additions and add our biggest dry hop addition and the entire hopping schedule comes together to create this beautifully complex tropical fruit hop profile while keeping the bitterness balanced and the beer extremely quaffable.