The fourth International Collaboration Series brew is heading closer to completion at Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell, Derbyshire. After past collaborations with Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery in the US, Luke Nicholas of Epic Brewing in NZ and Agostino Arioli of Birrificio Italiano in Italy, Thornbridge have teamed up with Doug Odell of Odell Brewing Co. from Fort Collins, Colorado.

Doug is a huge fan of English ales and bases his multi-award winning beers on the balance and drinkability he finds in the cask ales he finds here. Doug has also judged in past Great British Beer Festivals and often brings his brewery employees to the UK for them to gain inspiration to produce fantastic beer.

Coinciding with the release of his bottled range in the UK market, Doug joined the Thornbridge team to recreate a version of his Red Ale, which has recently medalled at the World Beer Cup and North American Beer Awards.

Colorado Red (5.9%) is crammed with speciality malts and with a twist on the popular American Red Style, it has been hopped instead with a massive amount of oil-rich English hops including Admiral, Bramling Cross, Phoenix, Pilgrim and First Gold. “We wanted to take a great US style of beer and put a bit of a British twist on it,” says Brewery Manager, Kelly Ryan. “We don’t want people to dismiss the fantastic breadth of flavour and aroma that UK hops can give to a beer… not every beer should be about US or NZ hops. It was also amazing to work with such a stalwart of the US micro brewing industry”.

Colorado Red, as the beer has been named in tribute to Doug’s brewery, will be released on Monday August 2nd at a Meet the Brewer event in the Cask and Kitchen, 6 Charlwood Street, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2EE. The beer is described as having hints of subtle toffee malt, complemented by a heady mix of dried fruit, candied peel, hop resin, rosewater and a fantastic blend of herbal UK hop notes. The bitterness is well rounded and the beer finishes with hints of citrus and roasty malt characteristics.