Colorado has an almost obscene density of microbrewers, brewpubs, homebrewers and any other kind of small-batch brewing you can imagine. You’ll find some incredible gems if you poke around long enough, or anyhow the poking around itself is fun enough to put a positive burnish on the whole experience. It’s no surprise then that, insofar as you can even call brewing a competitive sport, unknowns from Colorado periodically walk off with major awards.
Credit goes to Dierdre at the Oakland Mad Mex in Pittsburgh for turning me on to the award-winning Dale’s Pale Ale made by Oskar Blues in their brewpub/restaurant in Lyons, CO. Served on tap Dale’s pours clear amber with a satisfying light-brown head that lingered for the half-hour that it took me to drain the beer. Pleasantly hopped (read what the pros say here), Dale’s has a depth of flavor that I don’t remember from great pale ales like Sierra Nevada. If there is a ‘Colorado taste’ – aggressively hopped, woodsy with a hint of pine – Dale’s gets it right.
(We’ve exceeded our server upload limit so you’ll have to settle for a link to pics of Dale’s in its natural habitat – aluminum cans)
Dale’s took the New York Times by storm:
Although we all said we preferred the subtler style, our top selection, Dale’s Pale Ale, made by Oskar Blues Brewery of Lyons, Colo., was one of the more aggressive ales in the tasting, with assertive floral and citrus aromas. But the ale was so well balanced, so lively and dry, that its extroversion simply did not matter. The same was true of our No. 3 beer, the Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale, which was clean and precise, yet with great personality. By contrast, our No. 2 pale ale, from Otter Creek, was subtle and complex, though also with that distinctive bitter signature.
Here a problem that I hadn’t heard of before – bottle aging.
In our tasting, ales from well-regarded brewers like Stoudt’s, Dogfish Head, Bear Republic and even some that made our list showed signs of poor handling. One possible solution to the light problem, at least, was staring us in the face right after the tasting, when the identities of all the brews were revealed. Our No. 1, Dale’s Pale Ale, came in a can.
A can! Not long ago, cans represented all that was wrong with the assembly-line American beer industry. No craft brewer worth a copper brew kettle would even consider putting his precious ale in a can. But times have changed, and some brewers say that cans are lighter and easier to recycle than bottles, and offer complete protection against light.
Rumor has it that the crunchy folks at Dale’s bought a Canadian small-scale canning system so that they could have good beers when they went biking, backpacking or golfing. Having done two of three there’s no doubt that with my own brew pub and startup capital I might have considered doing the same thing. Among other outdoor advantages cans don’t shatter, they cool faster when you sink them in a stream and you can crush them when the beer’s gone. The other advantages – and it looks like there are plenty – apparently came up later. That doesn’t mean that Oskar Blues is a bit shy about selling their technological superiority over the rest of the microbrewing world:
[T]here’s no reason why big beers can’t live and thrive in cans, said Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis. Ratebeer.com bears him out: Oskar Blue’s Old Chub is the top-rated Scottish ale on that Web site, and Dale’s Pale Ale is the No. 8 American pale ale.“Cans eliminate light damage,” he said, “and they hold far less oxygen than bottles. So our beers stay fresher longer — plus cans are less fuel-consuming to ship and recycle and they make it possible to enjoy great beer outdoors.”
Light damage and oxidation are two enemies of packaged beer. According to Beeradvocate.com, ultraviolet light destroys hop-derived molecules called isohumulones, and creates sulfur compounds — the reason that light-struck beer is called skunky.
…Oxidation is caused by air trapped during packaging. It creates a stale, wet cardboard flavor in the beer. Although air trapped in a can could actually oxidize beer more quickly than in a bottle because of the greater contact area, modern canning systems purge air with a blast of carbon dioxide or nitrogen before the can is filled and the lid crimped on. In recent tests of Dale’s Pale Ale, the levels of dissolved oxygen were too low to be accurately measured by the test being used.
Jim Mills of Caldera Brewing is impressed with the difference between even mass-market beers in bottles and cans. “Taste a Heineken from a bottle and then from a can,” he said. “The malt and hops are so much more present in the canned beer. When a friend first tried canned Heineken against bottled, he said, ‘Whoa! That’s not Heineken — but I like it.’ ”
Canned beer? Boxed wine? If you don’t pick up anything else from Balloon Juice, you’ll pick up the idea that conventional wisom is usually hooey. Try a Banrock Station Shiraz (2003 was particularly tasty) or a Dale’s Pale Ale and I’m sure that you’ll agree.
srv
It’s about damn time you posted, probably already a line at the Toronado by now.
Kav
Ahhh, Colorado microbreweries. Its one of the things I miss most about living in Boulder. Anyone who ever gets to Boulder, head over to the Walnut and try a Big Horn or Buffalo Gold. Then go along to the Southern Sun and have a Java Porter: beer + caffeine = goodtimes.
Katie
We just opened a case, minus one bottle, of Sam Adams Triple Bock 1995 Reserve that we’ve had stashed away for years. It was suppose to age 10 years or so before drinking. Naturally we had to try it before we put it away. Blech. We hoped it would get better (as advertised)
We opened one tonight. Unfortunately it’s even worse now. Tastes like fermented blood. Or at least what I would imagine fermented blood would taste like. Terrible terrible stuff.
As far as bottles and cans go, from what I’ve read if it’s fresh and stored right, bottles are better. If it’s anything but stored perfectly, go for the cans. And those plastic stadium bottles just seem wrong.
I’m not a big ale fan myself, but I sure do love a good smooth finished porter. They seem to be getting harder and harder to find, pretty much everything I’ve had lately has been really hoppy and bitter.
jaime
I’m enjoying a Jumping Cow Amber Ale right now….Delish!
Wickedpinto
As long as it isn’t skunked,(only had it happen once) I love just about everything by bert grant.
Jack Roy
Ah, great choice. When I finally moved away from Colorado, I was astounded that not everywhere has the excessive number of microbrews on every other corner.
Hey, it’s Friday! Ahmina go have one. Sweet.
Gary Farber
You neglected to mention the latest Palestinian beer.
gswift
In that same vein, we’re long overdued for screw on caps for wine bottles instead of those ridiculous corks.
Wickedpinto
Didn’t I see a few years ago that “2 buck chuck” was like the pound for pound best wine in the world or something like that?
Bob In Pacifica
Flying Dog is available out here. Good.
Brian in Oakland
John, with that typo at the bottom of the entry, you created a great new word, “conventional wisom”. Whenever anybody seez somthing stupid because everybody else is saying it, call them on it. “Yeah, that’s a bunch of conventional wisom.” Pissing outta their mouths.
gorillagogo
Never heard of Dale’s Pale Ale, but I’m a big fan of Mad Mex. I’ll have to keep it in mind next time I stop by.
Captain Comeback
Went to a famous Pittsburgh establishment, The Sharp Edge and had two pilsners, Spaten, and Pilsner Urquell, and almost tried the Scottish ale Skull Splitter which is brewed on the Orkney Islands. Pretty cool all around.
Zach
James Page, what I guess would be a mini-brew, has been in cans for a while. They printed a defense of cans on the can itself and the primary argument was the opaqueness.
James Page makes a good beer, I was saddened when Northwest stopped carrying them.
Zach