Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Craft Beer In A Can

With all of the great craft beer that is available today it’s surprising that so few are sold in cans.  Why is that?  When you think about it, canned beer is better protected from light so it should maintain a higher quality for a longer period.  Well, more and more brewers are putting great beer in cans and I am all for it.  One of the original “craft beer in a can” makers is Oskar Blues, a brewery and brewpub located in Lyons/Longmont Colorado.  They started hand canning beer in 2002 and now produce 5 different beers, all in cans or on draft.  I’ve had most of them at one time or another but decided to review their Imperial Stout, Ten Fidy.  It has 9.5% ABV and 98IBU’s:

I had Ten Fidy on draft at the Brickstore Pub a couple of years ago and remember it as a very good beer.  It pours “stout dark” and has a nice milk chocolate colored head that unfortunately went away fairly quickly and left very little lacing.  The smell and taste were full of coffee, chocolate, molasses, and dark fruit.  The beer coats the mouth with a creamy/oily texture that I really like.  I think the oats they use in brewing the beer help contribute to this.  There’s a bit of bite but not too much.  The beer really came alive as it warmed up a bit once again proving that dark beers need to be consumed at warmer temperatures to really get everything from them.  The ABV was fairly well hidden but the 9.5% does affect drinkability a bit.  If you like stouts you need to find this beer and give it a try if you “can”.

Here is the score:

1. Appearance- 7 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 18 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 7 points (out of 10)

Total 40 (out of 50) Points- A 4 Mug Rating