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Oskar Blues GUBNA switching to draft only

hand-picking-hops-for-oskar-blues-gubna-imperial-ipa-craft-beer When GUBNA first came on to the beer scene in 2011, it quickly became a sensation with its in-your-face wallop of hops. Since then the annual release has been something that many hop heads look forward to with great anticipation. In the past, cans of the pungent brew were available in most markets served by Oskar Blues. But, this year the brewery is changing things up and only making it available on draft in most markets. Cans will only be available at the brewery’s taprooms in Colorado and North Carolina.

Learn more about this year’s incarnation of GUBNA in the official press release below:

Longmont, CO, Brevard, NC, & Austin, TX – Oskar Blues Brewery’s GUBNA Imperial IPA is back in the mix for year six with an emphasis on the sticky-icky and a hop punch-in-the-mouth.

Every year Oskar Blues’ eccentric fellowship of deranged brewers work with hop growers to seek out the most potent, unique and mind-bending hop varietals of the season. By annually altering the hop bill, GUBNA continually reinvents itself while letting the best and brightest of these powerful flowers flourish. This year’s disestablishmentarian dankness comes from a blend of Azacca, Sterling, and Crystal hops hand-selected by sensory panels at each of OB’s three breweries.

“The traditional hops beat out some newer, experimental varietals this year, which surprised many of us here at OB,” said Tim Matthews, Head of Brewing Operations. “But the hops just spoke to the nearly 100 employees that participated in GUBNA hop selection and we must obey the rub.”

GUBNA clocks in at over 100 IBUs and at 10% ABV it’s a beer that you better sit down to drink before it sits you down. Expect big zesty lime and orange flavors, with a spicy/herbal sweet aroma and all the dank you’d expect from the intense hop load. The GUB, as always, sits on a base of Rye, North American Pale, and Munich malts, which offers a smooth and flavorful backbone to support the gargantuan load of hops.

In an effort to preserve GUBNA’s finest quality, the freshness of its hops, the imperial IPA, previously featured nationally in cans, will switch to a draft-only offering across the country. 12 oz. cans will only be available for to-go purchase in the Colorado and North Carolina Tasty Weasel taprooms.

Free-flowing GUBNA goodness will be available nationwide on draft in bars from March to May while supplies last. Use our Beer Finder at http://www.oskarblues.com/beerfinder to load up.

Oskar Blues amping up a favorite, preparing a new seasonal

04 Mar

Oskar Blues Brewing Company has been turning heads since 1998 when Dale Katechis began brewing beer is the basement of his Lyons, Colo. restaurant. The brewery really began as a side-project to provide fresh beer to hos restaurant, but soon Katechis decided to convert his restaurant to a brewpub. His brews were never timid; they always grabbed the drinker by the throat and let them know they were drinking a brew made with passion. A year after establishing the brewery, Katechis’ little brewery captured a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival for “The Reverend Sandi’s Sinful Stout.” Demand for the brews grew and a few years later in 2002, Oskar Blues shook up the craft beer world again by doing the unthinkable and canning their beers.

Over the next 10 years, the craft brew movement grew and Oskar Blues expanded with it. Today the company operates a brewery in Longmont, Colo. and another in North Carolina. In 2012 they produced 95,000 barrels of brew, that’s a far cry from the 760 they rolled out in 2002.

This year, the brewery is making a few changes to its lineup. Gubna, a malty, hopped-up Imperial Rye IPA is about to get a formula change. Until now the brew that accomplished it’s outrageous 100 IBUs of bitterness and 10% ABV through the use of three types of malt and just one hop; Summit. This year Cascade hops are being added to the already challenging brew. The brew is also being taken from a year-round offering to a seasonal spring offering to be available in March, April, and May.

Gubna is being moved to seasonal status because the brewery is planning the debut of a new seasonal brew in July. While the brewery is not saying what the brew will be, it has been introducing new cans to the market including a modern version of the old cone top can made of aluminum that has a twist-off aluminum top. The last beer packaged in that can was The Deuce an Imperial Brown that was available during the fall of 2012.

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