Sand, Brew, Costumes & Cyclocross

In a sport that was created to prolong the European cycling season & merge the off-season with beer drinking, Halloween adds an addtional festive vibe. There were lots of Afro's, Costumes, Beer & of course good racing this past weekend at the Boulder Resovoir. We have some of Cyclocross' big hitters coming to town next weekend to compete in both the Redline & Boulder Cup races. I hope you all can grab a brew & catch some of the cycling celebration that is cyclocross.

Rocky Mountain Flyer ad

We have an ad in the upcoming Rocky Mountain Flyer magazine, check it out. Thanks to Bryan Ganzel for the use of his photo, cheers!

MSC & the Colorado Epic

Colorado Epic to bring MTB stage racing to the U.S.A
The organizers of Colorado's Mountain State's Cup (www.racemsc.com) are on track to debut the first epic mountain-bike stage race on U.S. soil. The race is currently pending approval by the United States Forest Service. Called the "Colorado Epic," organizers hope to hold the five-stage race July 21-25 through Colorado's central rocky mountains, in Summit, Eagle and Lake counties.

Organizers hope to open registration by January 2008. For its inaugural year, the year will host 100 two-person teams and 25 individual participants.

"We want to showcase the riding that is important to us in Colorado," said Mike McCormack of Bigfoot Productions. "This race will be an epic backcountry experience."

A few of Mo @ the Interlocken CX

Thanks for the Pic's Mike, check out more of his photos HERE

O S K T O B E R F E S T

Oskar Blues had a busy Osktoberfest weekend here in Lyons. On top of having 6 bands, an Oktoberfest buffet(Bangers, Smoked pork loin, Chicken of the Cajun Style, Creole Spaetzel, German potato salad, BBQ beets) & pumpkin bowling we did some big rides, cyclocross racing & headed north to Road 34 for a Beer Can Chicken & Dales Pale Ale special.
First we headed out to the front range to gather some views & time on the Lefthand Canyon OHV Trails. For the most part the trail is wide but there are some gnarly sections & a nasty climb as Dave so eloquently put it...Oh...this climb love me long time.
It all pays off with beautiful views of the front range & a fantastic single track descent back to the canyon.

It was good to get back to cross racing for the first time of the year. After that initial painful race & earning that cough it reminded me of how fun this sport is. Huge fields showed up creating good racing & lots of spectators. After the racing we headed back to home base to grab some of that OB Buffet & see Lyons own Buckskin Stallion rip up the stage.
After some Oskotberfest eats we steadied the ship north to hang with our boys at Road 34 in Fort Collins. If you haven't checked this place out you should. They have combined a few of life's better offerings: Blues, Brews & Bikes! That's right it's a bike shop & bar. We joined forces with them to offer $2 pints of Dales Pale Ale & Beer Can Chicken while watching the ALCS game in hopes of finding the Rockies opponent. Stop on in & have a Dales with the boys @ Road 34.

DPA - Best Tailgating Beer

The Today Show hosted Men's Journal Magazine to cover the different kinds of beers available for sports enthusiasts. They named Dale's Pale Ale as the Best Tailgating Beer. Click HERE to watch the clip.

GABF Intro

Oskar Blues will be hosting Brewery tours & continuing our good times as beer snobs from around the country trickle into the Denver area. We'll be hangin' out & having live music all week & weekend so please stop in & check us out.

Don't forget we will be serving the newly canned limited edition Ten FIDY at the Oskar Blues booth. It'll flow in one-ounce portions along with Dale's, Old Chub, Gordon, and some barrel-aged Gordon that's been resting in a barrel of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey.

GABF Location:
Booth Number: L35
Floor Region: Mountain

Silent Disco: Our headphones-only disco was a big hit at last year's Great American Beer Festival, so we've been asked to bring it back again for the 2007. Grab you tickets to this year's edition of the nation's biggest and best beer tasting at www.beertown.org, and come shake a leg with us at the festival. Be sure and bring your stacks and polyester flares from the back of your closet.

YETI Tribe Gathering Video Review

CHEERS! Yeti Freaks toast with their favorite beer!

Yeti used their video team to recap the 2007 Tribe Gathering. Check out all their video's from 2007 including Mountain States Cup race #4 from Snowmass Colorado HERE. From this page you can view, download or get to itunes for a Podcast of their video's. Enjoy!

Trail Work

We headed out for the first day of trail construction on the Lyons to Heil Ranch connector trail. Look HERE for details. Everyone enjoys a post work Dales Pale Ale & Eats provided by Oskar Blues.The Heil Ranch terrain is rocky.Build Trails, then ride trails....good times!

TEN FIDY is HERE!

On Oct. 10 at 10:50 AM at our pub in Lyons, Oskar Blues will release the first cans of our highly acclaimed Ten FIDY Imperial Stout.

First brewed last year as our winter seasonal, it's a gentle-giant rendition of the style. Immensely malty and viscous, its hefty alcohol (10.5% ) and IBUs are buried under thick, comforting blankets of roasted flavor.

Like our other canned goods, Ten FIDY expands the definition of "canned beer."

We're canning up just 100 cases of Ten FIDY, and it will only be available for purchase at the brewpub. It'll be in fourpacks, a la our Gordon. For $10.50. Get here fast if you'd like some for your OBB stash, we expect these cans to go in a very short time.

We will also be serving Ten FIDY at the Oskar Blues booth (booth H-2) at the Great American Beer Festival. It'll flow in one-ounce portions along with Dale's, Old Chub, Gordon, and some barrel-aged Gordon that's been resting in a barrel of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. Have mercy!

Fall Days

I headed out for a quick stomp around town on the Cyclocross bike yesterday. I had no plans of taking pictures since it was a simple route that I've ridden a million times. The fantastic fall temperatures & colors changed my mind pretty quickly. With all the hustle & bustle of summer it was refreshing to get out & reestablish what makes Lyons special. The Great American Beer Fest dominates most of the talk around here these days, that & the Rockies. One unfortunate thing about GABF's new date is it will stop us from playing our role in the 24 hours of moab, good luck ladies! Stay tuned for GABF updates via an insiders view.
GO ROCKIES!

Daily Camera: Can spells expansion for Oskar Blues

08/23/2007

By Alicia Wallace (Contact)

Oskar Blues Brewery has a bit of a growth spurt planned during its 10th year of business.

The Lyons-based brewpub, known for its canned microbrewed beers, is building a larger production facility and tasting room in Longmont — a move that will double the company's output in one year.

"We've experienced this four years of exponential growth, and things grew much faster than we had ever dreamed," owner Dale Katechis said Wednesday.

Since it started hand-canning its beers back in 2002, Oskar Blues' beer production has grown 1,200 percent. During the first half of this year, the production grew 88 percent, but the company hit capacity at its 2,400-square-foot facility, which sits behind its brewpub and restaurant off Main Street.

That 88 percent growth is a great figure, Katechis said, but one soured by the amount of money left on the table because of backordered beer.

The new facility, which is expected to be operational by January, should help solve those woes and get more beer — and perhaps some new offerings — out to the distributors who ship to 17 states, Katechis said.

The 18,000-square-foot site at 1800 Pike Road, formerly occupied by Packaging Resources, will have the capacity to brew 100,000 barrels of beer — almost 7,300 cases — annually.

Oskar Blues won't hit that volume right away, Katechis said, adding that the expectation is to produce about 30,000 barrels, more than double the volume now.

The brewery also will have a 50-barrel brewhouse, supported by fermentation tanks and a new canning line that will shuttle cans at a rate of 300 to 500 cans per minute.

The current line runs at about 30 cans per minute.

The expansion not only should help solve the growing pains, but also should bolster the 10-year-old brewpub in Lyons, Katechis said. By having the packaged beers produced off-site, the Lyons brewery can put more of a focus on specialty and seasonal beers.

The growth "strangled the production of the brewery to suit the needs of the beers out in the marketplace," he said. "So the brewpub has had to pay the price for it."

Oskar Blues' success came not from just the novelty of canning a microbrewed beer, but bucking the idea that only light beers come in cans, said Paul Gatza, director of the Boulder-based Brewers Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes the $5.3 billion craft brewing industry.

"To have such a hoppy, flavorful beer come out of a can, that's what's different. ... That had a lot to do it ," Gatza said. "They also have the brewpub out in Lyons and that helps build a brand."

The industry's growth should continue, he said.

"We're not seeing fancy marketing campaigns and advertising; this is being pulled by the consumer," Gatza said. "Things just seem to be moving at this double-digit growth rate and I don't see anything that's going to stop it right now."

Turner Bikes & Our Trails

Lyons Redstone Cyclery & Oskar Blues made their way to Moab for rides with Turner Bikes. Check out the details HERE. No photo credits, not sure who took it.

OUR TRAILS:
The Continental Divide Trail (CDT) includes the famous Monarch Crest, many sections of the Colorado Trail, well-known Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs single-track, important trails around Butte and Helena and much, much more. All are in threat of being closed to mtn bikes. Please voice your opinion via THIS FORM. They have a pre-built form so voice your opinion by October 12th.

Don't forget about the Lyons Connector trail day October 6th at Heil Valley Ranch Open Space. Food & Beverages provided by OB. The details are HERE.

BOULDER - Valmont City Park Plan Update
Plans for the future of Valmont park are in the works. Bikes are certainly in the plan & let them know what your opinion is before the end of October. Check this baby out HERE

Joe Price Blues

I saw Joe Price at Oskar Blues & Telluride Blues & Brews festival last month & loved it. This isn't the greatest video but thought I would give him a shout. If you get a chance to see his authentic version of blues make sure you do.