Tasting Notes: Sweet, Sweet Crude

At the beginning of the summer, I was more than pleased when the Oskar Blues line of beers made it to Texas. Having only tasted these treats from the mean streets of Lyons, Colorado, on a few chance occasions, the arrival of high quality, craft brewed, potent beers available in a specially made can, right in my own co-op, was a beautiful thing. 

Dale's Pale Ale quickly became my go to beer for the summer. This hop forward pale ale, weighing in at a nice 6.5% ABV, either made many an evening memorable, or hazily forgotten. Perfect for those long, hot, Austin nights. Gordon, the big, red, and sticky beer, hit hard at 8.7% ABV, only to be discontinued from our work beer selection due to slow movement. Sometimes consumers are dumb. I mustn't leave out our lovely friend, Old Chub. This Scotch Ale style can beer has a benevolent malt backbone that makes you go back for sip after sip, only to be backhanded by its dastardly well covered 8% ABV. Take all three on the river for a day of tubing, and you may find yourself throwing three British (and Irish) women around as they pitifully try and battle royale style wrestle you in the shallows. Spontaneous spectator water sports and snoozy car rides back from the sticks are definite side-effects to this potent combination of micro brewed beer and leisurely river activity. 

It's no secret that I have a love for the style of ale known as Imperial Stout. There are so many to choose from, some that shine like Venus in the night sky, and some that are just kinda, meh, like the kid that ate paste, and gave himself haircuts in your Kindergarten class. I was stoked when I found out that Oskar Blues had their own canned crude, only to be bummed that it wasn't available in our humble state. Until about a month ago.

 

This beer is really good. 

Ten Fidy, whose name has conflicting lore around it (previous statement removed due to being wrong) is a beast of an ale, and a grand representation of this style. It pours slow and thick like motor oil, and is crowned by a burnt toffee head that smells of roasted barley malt, molasses, and ripe dark fruit. The presence of flaked oats in the grain bill lends to the character of the creamy, milkshake-like body, and velvety mouthfeel. The roasted malt sweetness does a graceful job of masking the gracious 98 IBU's packed in this little can of wintery deliciousness. 

This beer is an animal, not for those with bopped collars and Daddy's old Land Rover. This stout is for the caber tossing, I-built-this-bike-myself, I-have-more-chest-hair-than-my-father, this-one-goes-to-eleven, ilk, weighing in at a massive 10% ABV. As the Professor soon found out, this is a beer to drink when you plan on staying somewhere for the night. Available in four packs, moderately priced at fine beer purveyors in Austin. Pick some up, and sleep where you fall today!