Today's AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN newspaper

Today's AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN newspaper announced OB's arrival to several Texas markets. Check out locations in states coast-to-coast via the "Find Our Beer" link on our Website.

Here's how the article reads 'bout us.
And landing on retail shelves right now is nuttiness from the foothills of the Rockies: Oskar Blues Brewery's Dale's Pale Ale, with two other of the Lyons, Colo., brewery's offerings, Old Chub Scottish Style Ale and Gordon, set to land in the retail market this week, with kegs in bars to follow. The sinewy Dale's was top-ranked in a 2005 New York Times pale ale tasting panel's judgment and it scores a 95 at Ratebeer.com. It has a distinct, almost buttery mouth feel, with good body and an assertive but not overpowering hop nose. Wonderful copper color, too. Chub is a Scottish strong ale with a mouth feel similar to Dale's, tons of malt and a bit of beechwood-smoked grains to suggest a peaty single-malt Scotch. Its color might be imposing if dark beers give you nightmares, but give it a try and you might be surprised. Yes, it does have some chew from all that malt but not as much as you'd think. And it makes me want to put my kilt on. The Gordon is a stern one, a cross between an imperial red and an IPA, with 8.7 percent alcohol by volume and 85 IBUs. The hop-to-malt ratio is more balanced than the first whiff upon opening the can would suggest, and the hop nose is almost citrus-y or floral, not unlike a Stone IPA. If you love big beers, look for four-packs of this. Locally, Oskar Blues is available at the Whip Inn, some H-E-Bs, Central Market, Whole Foods, Grapevine Market and more.

Yeah, yeah, I know — good beer in cans? Get over it. Oskar Blues was the first micro to can beer six years ago and has been winning medals and accolades from extreme beer lovers ever since. The idea at first was simply to have packaged beer to sell to fans of the brew pub and restaurant, back when they were running about 700 barrels a year. Last year they brewed almost 12,500, and they have a new brewery in a nearby town.

The brewery says contemporary cans are lined, so metal never touches the beer. Moreover, canning helps reduce their shipping costs and carbon footprint, lets beer drinkers take the beer where bottles aren't practical or are prohibited and protects the brew from damaging ultraviolet light. Something's working for them — they're one of the fastest-growing craft brewers in the U.S., and their arrival in this market is a very welcome development. (And for more on the can vs. bottle debate from an environmental perspective, check out an illuminating discussion in Slate magazine at www.slate.com/id/2186219.)

Oh, and the brewery also makes what it calls the world's first lip balm made with beer — Old Chub, to specify. The safety seal says "Twist the knob and rub the chub." Uh, I'm not sure I want to.

A salud to St. Arnold's of Houston, which took a gold medal in the Brewers Association's World beer cup for its Divine Reserve No. 4 in the strong scotch ale category and a silver in the international pale ale category for Elissa IPA. Spoetzl Brewery of Shiner also took a silver for in American-style wheat beer for Shiner Dunkelweizen. Oskar Blues' Gordon, mentioned above, took a bronze for imperial reds.

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