Cy and I were in attendance a couple of weeks ago at RFD‘s Oskar Blues Brewing Dinner. We did get lost finding the back room, but we didn’t know RFD has a back room.

Oskar Blues has one brewery each in Colorado and North Carolina, and was one of the pioneers in beer canning. Apparently, beer bottles and Colorado mountain travel aren’t a great combination.

This my first time drinking Oskar Blues’ beers, and I have to say that there was not a single brew I did not enjoy. I did try to pace myself since five beers can hit pretty hard when two of them are over 10% alcohol). RFD did a great job pairing great dishes and beer.

The evening’s pairings:

• Cheese (Grafton 2 year Cheddar and Maytag Blue) & Chopped Liver with Dale’s Pale Ale (6.5% ABV). I loved the cheddar, but avoided the blue cheese. This was billed as Cheese & Charcuterie, but there was none of the latter to be found. The chopped liver was tasty, and had apples in it, which lightened and sweetened it.
• Melon & Prosciutto with G’Knight Imperial Red Ale (8.7% ABV). This was plated with a Parmesan tuile on top.
• Crawfish & Andouille Gumbo with Gubna Imperial IPA (10% ABV). Crab stock Risotto!
• Classic Brew Burger “Oskar Blues Style” with Ten Fiddy Russian Imperial Stout (10.5% ABV). These great Bourbon Barrel Bacon Burgers (holy alliteration, Batman) were stuffed with blue cheese, except for mine, which thankfully was stuffed with Gruyere.
• Flourless Chocolate Torte & Smoked Chocolate Mousse with One Nut English Brown Ale (6.1% ABV). This was a great chocolate dessert, especially the mousse.

Cy’s Beer notes:

• Dale’s Pale Ale: Light amber color, clean hoppy aroma, nice mellow hop flavor.
• G’Night Imperial Red Ale: Deep red color, grapefruit/citrus aroma, citrus/cereal flavors.
• Gubna Imperial IPA: Dark amber color, caramelized orange aroma, spicy/hoppy/citrus flavors.
• Ten FIDY Russian Imperial Stout: Black color, light malt aroma, roasted  malt flavor.

-JAY

Editor’s Note (April 6, 2014): Oskar Blues has 2 beers on Thrillist’s list of top 15 underrated canned beers.

Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events.