Full Sail Brewing is set to release a new beer in their Brewmaster Reserve line-up for 2009, Keelhauler Scottish Ale. Keelhauler is a full bodied rich ale with slight notes of caramel and cocoa and a strong malty flavor. The hop character is spicy and earthy with a nice finishing hop flavor. “With this style we embark on a trip across the pond. Keelhauler, a nautical term, refers to a form of punishment one might get for treachery on the high seas, but there’s no punishment here, we just thought it was a great name for a beer. Scottish Ale’s are widely interpreted between sweet and roasty. We go for the balanced side, using imported Crystal and Amber malts with imported Challenger, American Willamette, and Sterling Hops to bring this Scottish Ale to life, said Full Sail Brewmaster, John Harris. ABV: 6.8% IBU: 48

“Keelhauler is part of our rotating selection of Brewmaster Reserve Beers. Every ten weeks we come out with a different beer that show cases the brewer’s art. We began the program back in 1998 as a way of celebrating our independence and creativity,” added Full Sail’s Founder and CEO, Irene Firmat.

Keelhauler will be available in 22oz bottles and on draught in specialty beer stores and pubs throughout the Pacific Northwest from Mid-March until June. Full Sail will follow-up Keelhauler with Grandsun of Spot India Pale Ale due out in June.

Oskar Blues Brewery is now releasing Mama’s Little Yella Pils in sixpacks of cans. Cans (and kegs) of the beer are now appearing at beer retailers in Colorado and the brewery’s other 22 states.

This new canned beer from the pioneering microcanner is a delicious, small-batch version of the beer style that made the city of Pilsen (in Czech Republic) famous.

Mama’s is made with hearty amounts of pale malt, German specialty malts, and a blend of traditional (Saaz) and 21st century Bavarian hops. Unlike mass-market pilsners, Mama’s is made of 100% malted barley and no corn or rice.

“There are very few all-malt pilsners made in the US anymore,” says Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis. “And the concept of ‘America-made pilsner’ has taken a beating over the past few generations. Especially when it comes to pilsners in cans.”

“We’re going to use Mama’s to help the style recapture its glory,” Katechis adds. “We want to give ‘canned pilsner’ the same good reputation we helped create for canned beer in the US. It’s a new frontier for us.”

Oskar Blues’ first canned lager, Mama’s Little Yella Pils is fermented at cool temperatures with a German yeast.

It sports the trademarks of a classic pilsner: aromas of grassy Saaz hops and pale grains, flavors of pale malts backed by subtle Euro-style hopping, followed by a crisp and refreshingly hoppy finish.

While it’s rich with Czech flavor, Mama’s gentle hopping (about 35 IBUs) and 5.3% ABV make it a satisfying but lower alcohol beer (by Oskar Blues standards) that’s perfect for warm-weather drinking.

Since its start, Oskar Blues has blazed its microcanning trail with higher-strength, assertive-but-elegant beers that stretch beer boundaries. But Mama’s Little Yella Pils allows the brewery to highlight its skills in making a more subtle version of great beer.

“You can’t hide flaws in a pilsner,” Katechis says. “With this beer our brewers get to showcase their expertise at making an unforgiving, classic style of beer.”

Two of Denver’s most highly acclaimed craft beverage companies, Great Divide Brewing and Pablo’s Coffee, have entered a partnership to create a new seasonal beer, an espresso-infused version of Great Divide’s Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout.

Great Divide Brewing brews some of the globe’s most balanced yet assertive and flavorful beers. In 1994, Brian Dunn set up shop in an abandoned dairy-processing plant at the edge of downtown Denver and began brewing the beers that would eventually carry Great Divide to its status as one of America’s most decorated microbreweries and would help transform Denver into an international destination for beer lovers.

Espresso Oak Aged Yeti “is a beer we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” says Dunn. “Imperial stouts already tend to have undertones of coffee, so the infusion of espresso makes for a perfect complement to Oak Aged Yeti’s complex character. We’ve been playing around with the beer for a long time, trying to get the right balance of espresso to beer. Once we got it ready for commercial release, we knew we wanted to partner with a local supplier for the espresso. Pablo’s makes the best coffee in Denver, so the choice was easy.”

Located on East Sixth Avenue in Denver’s Alamo Placita neighborhood, Pablo’s Coffee, “A Worldwide Chain of One,” has served Denver’s finest coffee since 1995, roasting all of its beans in-house and serving as an antidote to the deluge of multinational coffee chains.

Of the partnership with Great Divide, Pablo’s founder Craig Conner says, “We have very similar business models—our companies are both committed to quality over quantity, and to serving our local communities in a way that large corporations are unable to do. And just as in the beer world, most of the best, most award-winning coffee comes from small roasters like us.” The company’s small size and proximity to Great Divide allowed it to custom-roast the espresso beans at the last minute possible so that they were as fresh as possible and at just the right specifications to make them perfect for the beer. “We couldn’t be more pleased,” says Conner, “to be partnering with another great local business like ours to create something special.”

The espresso—sourced through direct relationships with farmers in three different countries—combines with Oak Aged Yeti’s vanilla oak character, intense roasty maltiness and bold hop profile to create a truly heady experience. Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout will be available in 22-ounce bottles and on draft through mid-April.