With Oskar Blues Brewery’s new flagship Pinner, beermaker nods again to marijuana

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Oskar Blues Brewery has never been shy about making pot references. A couple of examples: its Dale’s Pale Ale cans have markings to aid anyone who wants to turn their can into a pipe for smoking ala those halcyon college days; and a couple of years ago, the brewery sent out a holiday greeting card that created a stir.

Now the Colorado-based Oskar Blues, with its East Coast Brewery in Brevard southwest of Asheville, is at it again with the announcement of a new flagship beer, Pinner Throwback IPA. The tagline: “Can I be blunt?”

For the uninitiated, both “pinner” and “blunt” are references to mary-jane smokes. And the Oskar Blues press release goes on to note that Pinner affords “a tropical, stoned fruit aroma.” It will be the lowest ABV beer “to blaze out of Oskar Blues’ brewhouses,” and it will be packaged with the brewery’s other core beers, making the packages “a hotbox of Oskar Blues flagships.” And there are more weed references. Check out the full release below.

Marijuana references on the craft beer scene are nothing new. Brewers have brewed beer with hemp seeds (Wedge Brewing has brewed a Derailed Hemp Ale for the past few years), and Denver Westword Blogs earlier this year noted the weed-beer connection in this post.

Regardless of all the above, the announcement of a new Oskar Blues beer is a big deal. It’s the first addition to the OB core of Dale’s Pale Ale, Mama’s Little Yella Pils and Old Chub Scotch Ale since 2009. Meantime, Oskar Blues has been on a massive growth and distribution spurt since the opening of its East Coast brewery in Western North Carolina in December 2012.

Cheers.

Here’s the full Oskar Blues press release:

Longmont, CO, & Brevard, NC —Oskar Blues Brewery is amped to add PINNER, Throwback IPA< to its flagship line-up of brews on draft and in 12-ounce CANs. PINNER will be released first in our home states of ColoRADo and North Carolina starting in mid-December. Coming in at 4.9 percent ABV, this primo dry-hopped brew will be easy to throw back. To put it bluntly, PINNER will be the lowest year-round ABV beer to blaze out of Oskar Blues’ brewhouses.

Dry-hopping with several different hops, including a killer experimental variety, gives PINNER a tropical, stoned fruit aroma with hints of pine and smooth malt in the flavor. Dry hops include Mosaic, Citra, Eldorado and Azzaca, which amp the brew with heady spicy aromatics and a tangy mouth feel unique to this primo style of beer.

PINNER will be brewed in both home states of ColoRADo and North Carolina, and initially distributed just in our backyards. PINNER will join the mixed-pack CANundrum in February for national distribution, making it a hotbox of Oskar Blues flagships with the iconic Dale’s Pale Ale, the crisp Mama’s Little Yella Pils, the peaty smooth Old Chub Scotch Ale, and now the lower ABV PINNER IPA. CANundrum gives CAN’d craft beer drinkers a chronic way to pack in four different Oskar Blues brews at the lake, trailside or music festivals. It also makes great swag for your variety-loving craft beer buds. #pinneripa #canibeblunt #oskarblues

Image link for Pinner Throwback IPA.