Press Release:

(Longmont, CO) – Ten years ago funky little Oskar Blues Grill & Brew started the “Canned Beer Apocalypse” by stuffing their voluminously hoppy Dale’s Pale Ale in a can. Today, Oskar Blues announced a partnership with Stagnaro Distributing (Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky) & Superior Beverage Group (Columbus to Cleveland) to expand their line of boundary busting canned beer to the burgeoning craft beer scene of Ohio and Northern Kentucky.

“This CAN easily be the biggest craft beer launch Ohio has ever seen,” said Mike Stagnaro, President & CEO Stagnaro Distributing.

This announcement follows record setting releases in the Alabama and Chicagoland markets over the previous two months by the brewery. Oskar Blues’ passion play announcement to open an additional brewery in the beer and outdoor centric mountains of North Carolina has allowed the rapidly growing brewery to create capacity to open new markets for the first time in three years. The North Carolina brewery is on pace to begin brewing beer in December of 2012 and produce 40,000 barrels in 2013.

Oskar Blues grew from 13,000 barrels (2007) to 59,000 barrels (2011) in five years while craft beer in-a-can has come of age. America’s first craft brewery to brew and can their beer is projected to produce 90,000 barrels in 2012.

Last year Oskar Blues began “The Oskar Blues Ordeal” bus trips and claimed three medals at the GABF. This year during GABF the brewery will be releasing 16oz. cans of the 2012 World Beer Cup Gold Medal winning G’Knight Imperial Red IPA, a second collaboration beer with Sun King Brewery in the Ball Corporation Alumi-tek Can and a yet to be announced revolutionary NEW package to craft beer.