Brewer of the week: Oskar Blues

2007 March April 317
Originally uploaded by nikoretro

Oskar Blues brews are the outdoorsmans best friend. Or at least that's what they designed them to be.

The Lyons, Colorado based brewery creates craft style beers in easily carried-in, carried-out cans. Now I can't say that I am much of a fan of canned beer, but pour one of these powerful malts into a collapsible cup and you'd never know it came out of a can. No filling tingling trace flavors of aluminum to be found.

While "Dales Pale Ale" and "Old Chub Scottish Ale" have been around for a while now, the newcomer "Ten FIDY Imperial Stout" was released last year. It's a rich mocha-choc-o-latey, malty stout with the consistency of fine motor oil and enough alcohol content to make the toughest lumberjack tipsy. "Ten FIDY" weighs in at a hefty 10% ABV. But don't let the high alcohol content scare you, all the Oskar Blues cans contain a powerful punch with enough flavor to balance out the bite.

Unfortunately, these cans carry the price tag of craft beer, not crap beer. Most varieties are pushing $9.99 per six pack in these parts. "Ten FIDY" is around $14 for a 4 pack. Is it worth it? I think so, but taste them and decide for yourself. Ask your local liquor store beer geek if they host beer tastings. If so, Oskar Blues distributors are happy to pour samples to change the way you think about canned beers.

So the next time your loading up the Jeep for a weekend in the mountains or a day at the beach, toss some Oskar Blues cans in your cooler. I promise it will be the best can of beer you'll ever crush on your forehead.

Visit: http://oskarblues.com/ for more info.