Oskar Blues Releasing Hotbox Coffee IPA

Courtesy of Oskar Blues Brewery

Longmont, CO, Brevard, NC & Austin, TX – Oskar Blues Brewery, the original innovators of craft beer in a can, are making strange bedfellows of uppers and downers again.

Hotbox Coffee IPA (7.2% ABV, 70 IBUs) combines a burst of pine, citrus and mango from simcoe hops and blends them with a cold brew extract from Hotbox Roasters' Ethiopian beans, which bring cream, blueberry and cocoa notes to the mix. The beans were sourced from a family farm in the East African nation exclusively for this beer.

Hops and coffee = the perfect odd couple.

“We believe the citrus and fruit aromatics of an IPA, derived from the intense hops, pair well with the fruit of the coffee to produce a great, flavor-packed beer,” said head of brewing operations Tim Matthews. “The combination of coffee and hops in the Hotbox IPA serve to compliment and reinforce the delicious flavors and aromas both offer in this match up.”

Since the in-house coffee roasters at Hotbox Roasters share a space in Oskar Blues Brewery’s Longmont facility, it was a no-brainer to go back to the mat and follow up on the fall seasonal, Hotbox Coffee Porter.

“Teaming up with Oskar Blues to make an IPA is a great opportunity to show off the versatility of Ethiopian coffee beans,” said Matt Herren of Hotbox Coffee Roasters.  “I had just 'cupped' this Ethiopian coffee and was blown away by the obvious aromas of fruit: bright cherry, blueberry, and citrus jumped right out of the cup.  Since Tim enjoys Ethiopian coffees I knew the fruit-forward qualities of this particular one would make an awesome IPA.”

Hotbox Coffee IPA will feature as Oskar Blues’ new spring seasonal in cans from March to May; replacing GUBNA Imperial IPA, which will shift to a limited, national draft-only release with 12 oz. cans only available for retail in the ColoRADo and North Carolina Tasty Weasel taprooms.

Oskar Blues’ three taprooms will each host simultaneous release parties to launch the Hotbox Coffee IPA.

• Friday, February 24, 2017 – Oskar Blues Brewery (Longmont, ColoRADo)
• Friday, February 24, 2017 – Oskar Blues Brewery North Carolina (Brevard, North Carolina)
• Friday, February 24, 2017 – Oskar Blues Brewery Austin (Austin, Texas)

Hotbox Coffee IPA will be available in all 50 states on draft and in 4-pack 12 oz. cans beginning in March. Beer drinkers looking for a unique mix of uppers and downers can hop on over to oskarblues.com/beerfinder to locate their nearest watering hole or store carrying the new brew.

About Oskar Blues Brewery
Founded by Dale Katechis in 1997 in Lyons, Colorado, Oskar Blues Brewery launched the craft beer-in-a-can apocalypse with their hand-canned, flagship brew Dale's Pale Ale.  Today, Oskar Blues is one of the fastest growing breweries in the country and operates breweries in Longmont, Colorado, Brevard, North Carolina and Austin, Texas while eclipsing 200,000 barrels in 2016. The original canned craft brewery continues push innovation with creations like The Crowler, their B. Stiff and Sons Old Fashioned Soda line, Hotbox Coffee Roasters & REEB Cycles. Oskar Blues is available in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., parts of Canada, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Spain, Chile, the Netherlands, Belgium, the U.K. and Australia.

In 2013, Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis launched the CAN'd Aid Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose “do-goodery” has raised $2.6 million in four focused areas:

• Towns - building strong communities
• Tunes - for your eyeholes and earholes
• Treads + Trails - get outside and get after it
• Love Yur Mama - save the blue marble

www.oskarblues.com