Foxy Knuckles
Oskar Blues Grill & Brew

 

Nice looking copper brew with a frothy cream head. Aroma is catty and resiny, with pine and grapefruit pith accompanying a light oniony tone. There's a touch of caramel malt. Flavor is savory, reminiscent of Amarillo hop character. Citrus, resin, pine, and onion meld together on a lightly bready, slightly sweet malt backbone. The finish is lightly bitter, and minerally hops lingers in the aftertaste. The grapefruit character really opens as it warms.

 

 

 

 

 

With a crystal-clean malt backdrop, the hops that put America on the brewing map are on brilliant but balanced display in the beer that Oskar Blues and Two Brothers made.

Deep golden in color, a hazy gaze sets in and disperses its color, giving a deeper and richer hue than what's really there. But above it all floats bright floral, spicy and citrus character to captivate the nose and balance its early taste. An elegance in toasted savoriness and lightly breaded sweetness is off of caramel but not grainy either.

Across the middle, a beautifully balanced taste transpires. Softly caramelized grain bounces off of playfully acidic citrus, grass and pine for a friendly taste with effortless enjoyment but brilliant complexity. Gingersnap, grass and herb round out the taste with the finish looming.

Its medium body lessens more and more while the hops and alcohol sets in, lightening more and more with each sip. It concludes with light citrus pith, bitterness and resinous pine notes in a beautifully malty-dry finish with citrusy aftertaste.

 

 

 

 

when i first had this i had no idea that it was a lager, and it didnt exactly jump out at me that it was. the hops are so forward and vibrant, new zealand in essence, that the yeast was really the last thing on my mind, although i was floored by the lightness and brightness of this delicious brew. just darker than golden in color, with a good head on it, and hops just exploding out aromatically. zesty and citrusy hops scream new zealand to me, a familiar tropicality in here, and a very light malt base. the flavor is somewhat of a session ipa thing to me, almost similar to all day from founders in its clean but dominant hop expression. i think this is one of the best oskar blues beers ive encountered. i wish they would can the fun stuff like this one, i think they would do really well again with beer geeks in colorado, but these seem to be taproom one offs, which is a real shame. this is a wonderful brew, great example of a hoppy lager, and one i hope to see again.