Great canned beer? The term has been an oxymoron for craft beer lovers used to getting their full-flavored beers from bottles only. But in November of 2002, Oskar Blues Brewery (in tiny Lyons, Colorado, pop.1400) changed that by putting its 3-dimensional Dale’s Pale Ale in a can, thus launching the “Canned Beer Apocalypse.”
In 1997, owner Dale Katechis opened up the tiny restaurant, Oskar Blues Cajun Grill, in Lyons, Colorado, population 1400. Two years later, in 1999, Dale felt it was time to revamp his passion for home brewing by turning the restaurant into a brewpub. What started out at a small side project turned into a huge success. Customers were diggin’ the beer, and wanted more. In 2002, Dale decided it was time to start packaging his beer.
How does one settle on cans instead of bottles? “We thought the idea of our big, luscious pale ale in a can was hilarious,” recalls Katechis. “And it made our beer immensely portable for outdoor enjoyment and fun,” which was a favorite past time of Dale’s, and a trait that exists in everything Oskar Blues to this day. Katechis and his crew then discovered other aluminum-can bennies.
- Cans keep beer incredibly fresh by fully protecting it from light and oxygen
- Cans are highly portable, allowing craft beer lovers to easily enjoy great beer in places where glass bottles are not ideal or allowed: the beach, pool, boats, trails, rivers, slopes, hot tubs, bath tubs, golf courses and so on…
- Unlike cans of old, the modern aluminum can is lined with a water-based coating so beer and metal never touch, and there is no exchange of metallic flavor
- Cans are the most easily and frequently recycled beverage package in the world, free of glass breakage issues, and less fuel-consuming to ship (cans enable Oskar Blues to reduce its fuel costs and carbon footprint for shipped beer by 35%)
- A recycled aluminum can generates 95% less pollution than one made from scratch and requires 96% less energy
- 1 recycled can saves the energy equivalent of 6 ounces of gas, or the electricity to power a guitar amplified for 2 hours
The brewery began hand-canning its hoppy, assertive-but-elegant Dale’s Pale Ale on a table-top machine that sealed just one can at a time. The move made Oskar Blues the first US craft brewer to brew and can its own beer. And the proof is in the can- over the years Oskar Blues brews have wowed beer experts and consumers alike. Dale’s Pale Ale, our flagship beer, was awarded Top American Pale Ale from the New York Times and World’s Best Canned Beers from Details magazine.
Almost ten years after Oskar Blues started the revolution, the brewery took home three medals at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival – Mama’s Little Yella Pils – Silver for Bohemian Style Pilsener; Old Chub Scotch Ale – Bronze for Scotch Ale; and the much sought-after, newest-beer-in-the-canned-lineup Deviant Dale’s IPA – Silver for American-Style India Pale Ale, the largest category in the history of GABF.
“We’re in this to have fun and put some extra joy on the planet,” Katechis says. “We love the way people’s heads spin around after they try one of our four-dimensional canned beers. ‘That came out of a can?’ We hear it all the time.”
