Location Longmont, Colorado Owned by Dale Katechis Dale's Pale Ale Pale Ale | Opened 1997 Website www.oskarblues.com | |
Annual production volume 149,000 US beer barrels (175,000 hL) in 2014 | ||
Oskar Blues Brewery is a craft brewery with locations in Longmont, Colorado, Brevard, North Carolina, and Austin, Texas. The company began as a brewpub in Lyons in 1997 and began brewing beer in the basement in 1999. In 2002, they became one of the first to put their own craft beer in cans. In 2012, they began marketing some of their craft beer in resealable aluminum containers, and in 2012, they expanded and established another brewery in Brevard, North Carolina. Unlike many craft breweries, Oskar Blues only packages their beer in cans and kegs, not bottles.
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History
Oskar Blues Original Grill & Brew Restaurant was founded by Dale Katechis in Lyons, Colorado in 1997. Two years later, he began brewing beer in the basement of the restaurant.
Some credit Oskar Blues as the creator of the "first released canned craft beer in the United States" with the release of their Dale's Pale Ale in November 2002. Other writers point to an earlier beer, Chief Oshkosh Red Lager which was brewed and canned at an existing brewery, as the "first canned craft beer" in June 17, 1991, although its producer, the Mid-Coast Brewing company, closed in 1994. Four other companies produced canned craft beers prior to Oskar Blues, although the canning was done by larger companies under contract. Regardless of the first, by 2011 about 50 U.S. craft brewers were issuing craft beer in cans. In 2009, Oskar Blues Brewery sponsored an event called "Burning Can" which brought together other craft brewers who were using cans for their beers.
In 2012 Oskar Blues Brewery began using resealable aluminum containers for craft beer. Advertising Age named them one of the hottest brands of the year in 2010; Inc. magazine put them on the list of fastest-growing companies and they were featured on the cover of Market Watch magazine.
They are the largest craft brewery (by volume) in the U.S. to eschew glass bottles. In 2011, they produced and canned 59,000 barrels of beer. In 2013, they employed over 275 people and distributed to 32 states. The company was ranked Colorado's second largest craft brewery and the 27th largest in the U.S. in 2012. and predicted they would brew 141,000 barrels of beer in 2013. The Colorado facility grew to 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2) by 2013.
In 2013, they opened a satellite brewery in Brevard, North Carolina, with an initial production of 40,000 barrels which could be enlarged to 85,000.
Forty-five thousand barrels of beer were brewed at the Brevard brewery in 2013, the first full year of production, and the company plans to increase that to 120,000. The Longmont factory is available for tours, and features the Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Taproom overlooking the brewery. The original Oskar Blues Grill and Brew is still located in Lyons, with 45 beers on tap.
Beers
Oskar Blues Brewery brews eight year-round production beers, brewed in 100 and 200 barrel batches. The original brew pub provides a variety of smaller batches for consumption at the Lyons and Longmont locations.