Does down-home, hand-planted, home-grown and hand-picked happen anymore? It does with Oskar Blues Brewery’s Hops & Heifers Farm <http://www.oskarblues.com/restaurant/hops-heifers-farm> inspired “HGH part DUH” Ale. Oskar Blues Brewery and Old Chicago restaurants will be offering a very limited and exclusive release of the farm raised strong ale born on the brewery’s Longmont, CO based farm. This beer will be released to the public on Wednesday, January 25th on the “I Love Beer” Mini Tour kick-off at all Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon and Wisconsin Old Chicago locations while the limited brew lasts. For a complete list of Old Chicago locations, check out www.oldchicago.com <http://www.oldchicago.com>
Oskar Blues Brewery’s “HGH (Home Grown Hops) Part DUH” is a 7.5% A.B.V and 70 I.B.U. Strong Ale brewed with hops locally grown at Oskar Blues Hops & Heifers farm. The home gown, high-potency, home run hitter is Dry hopped with Amarillo, Double dry hopped with Centennial, Summit and the last of our first crop of whole Cascade Hops. This farm raised strong ale injects more HGH than the 1998 home run race.
The 50 acre Hops & Heifers Farm has been reborn by Dale Katechis and Geoff Hess in an area hosting views of the Boulder’s Flatirons and Haystack Mountain just down the road from Oskar Blues Brewery and their Home Made Liquids & Solids <http://www.oskarblues.com/restaurant/liquids-solids> restaurant creating an opportunity for a true farm to table experience. The farm hosts 2 acres of hops plants planted in celebration in May, 2011 by the Oskar Blues employees. The initial Hops & Heifers work day saw 3,500 hop plants laid in on 2 acres of land across 181 hope poles. The hopyard menu includes Centennial, Columbus, Nugget, Chinook, Willamette, Mt.Hood, Cascade and Sterling. The farm also hosts 100% Oskar Blues raised Black Angus cattle, Berkshire Pigs and Goats that are part of the sustainable model. The Oskar Blues cattle are grass fed on our pasture grasses and alfalfa in addition to spent grain and water reclaimed from the OB brewery, while Berkshire Pigs are fed a mix of high protein grain, brewery spent grain and restaurant kitchen scraps.
This is not the first collaboration between Oskar Blues & Old Chicago. In 2011 Old Chicago was the exclusive launch of Deviant Dale’s IPA during the same “I Love Beer” tour. That beer went on to win a Silver Medal in the 2011 Great American Beer Festival American India Pale Category, the most competitive category in that competition’s history with 176 entries. Deviant Dale’s will be released in March as the brewery’s first 16 oz. tallboy can.
In addition, the companies share much in the way of history. Dale Katechis, the heart & soul owner of Oskar Blues gained experience within the Old Chicago group of restaurants & was the General Manager at the Longmont Old Chicago location which is now only a few blocks away from Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids. Dave Chichura, Oskar Blues head brewer, has four years of history with Rock Bottom Brewery, a sister concept to Old Chicago.
