Oskar Blues

Beverage World has announced that Oskar Blues won gold as “breakout brand of the year” in the publication’s analysis of all beverages in the market today. Oskar Blues topped other products such as TY KU Sake, New Leaf Tea, FRS Healthy Energy Drinks, MonaVie açai berry drinks and Guayakí Yerba Mate as the “breakout brand of the year.”

The first craft brewery to can its own beer on premise back in 2002, Oskar Blues has been joined by about 75 other small breweries (so far) in canning their own beer.

“We were the can guys,” Oskar Blues owner Dale Ketchis told Beverage World. “Early on we had an advantage because we weren’t trying to add a canning line to a current bottling line, this was our baby, so we wanted to drive it home. We wanted to educate everyone that it’s a better package, period. In order to do that we truly had to have 110 percent buy-in. The biggest advantage was that we bought in early to the idea and we’re still riding that wave.”