Odell, New Belgium make 'best beers' list

Jacob Laxen | The Coloradoan

Show Caption Hide Caption 10 biggest Colorado craft breweries Here's a list of the the top producers that help the Centennial State rank third nationally in craft beer production.

A trio of Fort Collins beers were recently rated among the country's best.

The American Homebrewers Association released its 15th annual ranking of America's top 50 commercial brews as voted on by Zymurgy magazine readers.

Odell's IPA and 90 Shilling Scottish Ale made the list. So did New Belgium's sour brown ale La Folie.

Two Hearted Ale from Michigan's Bell's Brewery was named the country's top beer, supplanting Pliny the Elder from California's Russian River Brewing that had claimed the top spot for the previous eight years.

Odell IPA tied for 22nd. The beer first released a decade ago helped reinvent the brewery that's now well-regarded for its hoppy brews.

The beer was one of the first IPAs to accentuate hop flavor and aroma over bitterness. It’s still the only American-style IPA to win gold medals at both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup.

Odell IPA now goes to Great American Beer Festival every year as a measuring stick. Judges use it to compare the American-style IPA entries — the most entered category annually since 2002.

90 Shilling, which tied for 27th on the best-beer list, has been Odell's flagship beer since it launched in 1989. It remains the brewery's best-selling beer annually and the ale won a gold medal at the 2016 World Beer Cup.

Odell added distribution to Montana earlier this month and is now available in 15 states.

New Belgium's La Folie finished tied for 27th. The beer is considered the country's first commercial sour beer.

La Folie won a bronze medal in its debut at the 2000 Great American Beer Festival for Belgian- and French-style ales, back when there was no sour category. The beer also claimed gold at the 2001 and 2002 GABF.

The 2017 version of La Folie hit the market in February.

New Belgium reached 50-state distribution earlier this spring. The employee-owned brewery also released the 2017 version of its popular sour Transatlantique Kriek and a special Voodoo Ranger passionfruit IPA into the market earlier this month.

Nearby Longmont also produced four beers on the top 50 list.

Left Hand Brewing's Milk Stout Nitro ranked 18th, the highest of any Colorado beer. Oskar Blues had Ten FIDY (tied for 27th), Dale's Pale Ale (tied for 43rd) and Old Chub (tied for 47th) make the list.

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen

Top-Ranked Beers

1. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

2. Russian River Pliny the Elder

3. Founders Breakfast Stout

4. Three Floyds Zombie Dust

5. Bell’s Hopslam

T-6. Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)

T-6. The Alchemist Heady Topper

T-8. Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA

T-8. Sierra Nevada Celebration

10. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

18. Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

T-22. Odell IPA

T-27. New Belgium La Folie

T-27. Odell 90 Shilling

T-27. Oskar Blues Ten FIDY

T-43. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale

T-47. Oskar Blues Old Chub