Canned Beer Bonanza

Oskar Blues Brewery Old Chub Scottish Style- Ale

Specs:

• Price: $8.49 six-pack
• ABV: 8.0%
• Ingredients: malted barley and beechwood smoked malt
• Process: can conditioned! stays fresh and grows stronger as it's distributed. smoked malt gives a roasted touch to the flavor.

Oskar Blues Brewery has found their niche: awesome brews in understated packaging, and beer names that take after your Uncle's nickname for his junk. Google search 'Old Chub'-- the images that come up include this great beer, and some scattered pictures of Joe Biden. Old Chub has that dark, malty flavor to it that resembles the Founders 'dirty bastard' scotch ale. Dark and smooth, rich not bitter, this beer is one of the best canned beers that gives you brew for your buck.

No Matter How You Divide It Up...

Great Divide Brewing Company: Colette Farmhouse Ale

Specs:

• Price: $9.89 six-pack
• ABV: 7.3% +
• Ingredients: Barley, Wheat, Rice, FOUR strains of yeast
• Process: Brewed at higher temperatures to give the brew a tangy, crisp taste.

So Great Divide Brewing Company (Brian Dunn's brainchild based in Denver, Colorado) has taken the Belgian-style beer in a new direction- four kinds of yeast (represented by the four pictures on the right) really make this brew complex. Local beer experts have told me Great Divide used four strains of yeast to pay hommage to the 4-slice belgian waffle iron. I think that's horse shit- those waffle irons always sucked, and this beer is great.  And this isn't the only brew they do that's well crafted. Great Divide has a slew of elaborately crafted brews (although the Colette is the best brew for your buck) that might tempt your palette. No homo. http://www.greatdivide.com/#/beer

A Most Extreme Beer Situation

Beer enhancing mystery tube

Thomas Creek Brewery: Up The Creek Extreme IPA

Specs:

• Price: $10.49 4-pack
• ABV: 12.5%
• Ingredients: 4 pounds of hops per barrel
•  Process: a sweet, brown sugar malt compliments the ridiculously high ABV

I attended the "High Country Beer Fest" in Boone, NC. Holy Shit. 143 IBU's-- fresh hopped through some sort of intense, hop-cannon/ austin-powers penis pump sort of machine. Can we talk about the IBU scale? International bitterness units. I don't really understand the point of having a scale when there is no relative scaling. How bitter is 143? 23? Why isn't it from 0-100? The only other thing I can think of that has no relative scaling is the national debt. But I digress. Thomas Creek Brewery brought the only beer strong enough to get you buzzed by just having one sample-glass' worth of brew with their Extreme IPA. And for that, I commend them.