Some beers reflect the flavor qualities of the earth in which their ingredients grow, known as “terroir.” Others reflect their community, celebrating the values and creativity that cleave individuals together.
Small-batch craft beers offer this space, and Odell Brewing Company in Fort Collins has long worked masterfully with those opportunities. At a time when “good news” is needed, Odell recently released a special fresh-hopped pale ale that leads with heart and showcases its community: Hops and Rec.
As the Odell taproom buzzed Sept. 28, at the beer’s release event, Fort Collins Parks Director Mike Calhoon held a Belgian-style beer glass at eye-level.
The lightly honey-hued limited-release Hops and Rec rolled light inside, leaving a soft trail of foam lace, as he turned the glass stem. A green aroma — cut grass and spruce — rose from the rim. “There is a lot in this glass, you know — more than you may notice at first.” he said.
Karla Baise, who manages community outreach for Odell, agrees. The execution of Hops and Rec involved many more hands than a typical Odell beer. The point was to create from a local palette though, and to engage the brewery’s home community. “We brewed this on our 10-barrel pilot system with 120 pounds of fresh Chinook and Cascade hops, grown at Twin Silo Park and the Gardens on Spring Creek,” said Baise. “A goal in harvesting the hops was to energize and involve the community in the process and the final beer,” she added.
Baise joined over 30 volunteers at an afternoon hop harvesting Aug. 30, during which the crew separated individual hop cones from the sticky, barbed spiral bines that climb up from the hop rhizomes. “Then, we had the hops in the lauter the same day.” said Baise, noting the key factor in a “fresh-hopped” beer: namely, be sure the hops are in the beer within hours of picking to retain and fully express essential oils and floral qualities.
The two hop gardens are managed by Fort Collins Parks and Gardens staff, with the Twin Silo garden started in 2018 from rhizomes transported from mature hops at the gardens facilities.
Rhizomes are the principal way to propagate hops and allow for the greatest control against hybridization by wild hop varieties. They are similar to an underground branch, not wholly part of the plant roots or vegetation. While roots serve to anchor and draw nutrients and water from the soil, and the vegetative mass manages photosynthesis, just beneath the soil line, rhizome nodes act as energy reserves for the vegetative growth. It is from this “root-stalk” that rhizomatic plants, like aspen trees, ginger, canna lilies and sympodial orchids, manage plant health and spread.
Horticulturist Selena Kunze from the gardens managed the rhizome cultivation at Twin Silo, which had a rocky start due to vandalism that nearly ended the plants during the initial two years of the park’s hop garden. Kunze nurtured the project though as an extension of the education and community gardening mission of the Gardens on Spring Creek — the city’s 18-acre community botanic garden.
“Fortunately, in their first several years, hops double their production from the prior season.” said Calhoon, a fact Kunze realized in 2020, as her plants produced over 100 pounds of bright-green aromatic hop cones. In December 2020, she reached out to Baise to explore how Odell could showcase the local hops.
In the festive Odell taproom during the release event, city parks staff and Odell brewers mingled with patrons. Outside, decorative hops and vines hung on timber frame pergolas over the taproom patio. The clear afternoon sky beckoned for a casual Frisbee or ball toss, reminding Calhoon of another facet of the Hops and Rec collaboration: Odell donates a portion of its sales to the city’s park and recreation scholarship program. “Those scholarships allow students and rec patrons who may not otherwise be able to afford program fees to participate in league sports and classes. Does it get any better than that?” he asked.
Locally sourced craft beers can uniquely reflect their home communities, allowing citizens to participate in and celebrate shared values and creativity. They also let commercial breweries honor their local patrons in a tangible way. Odell’s recent small-batch release of Hops and Rec seized that opportunity and showcased the personal side of craft beer in Fort Collins.
Fresh-hopped beer can’t get much “fresher” than when the hops are grown in your neighborhood park.
