Oskar Blues Brewery is most widely known for crafting some of the best beer you can find in a can. But they also have a reputation for creating some strong beer, too. Since my last can of Oskar Blues was a decidedly tame Moma’s Little Yella Pils, I feel the urge to venture back out into deeper waters.

Old Chub is a Scottish-style Ale from Oskar Blues. Scottish Ales are generally dark, malty, and often smokey. The strong malt often dominates the flavor, but I’ve discovered an affinity for Scottish Ales that has me curious about what Old Chub throws at me.

My can (“Batch #2″) was filled on January 20th, 2009 — Inauguration Day here in the United States. But despite the accidental stars and stripes on the can, this beer seems far less presidential and far more informal. The Colorado can has a tartan band and the slogan, “High Altitude. High Attitude. High Land. High Ya. No Rice!”

High Attitude indeed — this beer is a hefty 8% ABV.

I popped open the can of Old Chub and began pouring. The dark brown beer pouring out of the can had ruby highlights and seemed to get darker by the second, culminating in a thick ridge of beige beer foam. Even after seeing the thick oil pouring out of a can of Ten Fidy, I still can’t get used to such rich-looking beer coming from a can. It’s like discovering beer all over again.

The aroma is strong, in several dimensions. Rich malt strikes your nose immediately with sweet toffee and a smokey, porter-like aroma. But curls of alcohol seep around the edges of that roasted malt, and it’s quickly obvious that Old Chub packs quite a punch.

Roasted malt falls sweetly on your tongue as you drink Old Chub. Chocolate, toffee, and brown sugar swirl through the taste, aided by a touch of cedar smoke. Some of that sweetness is countered by a roasted bitterness that begins to expand throughout the swallow, but caramel and chocolate malt quickly tamp out that fire.

The alcohol isn’t immediately obvious in the taste; even in the exhale, I tasted a toffee/cherry flavor more than alcohol fumes. But as each sip adds up, the alcohol becomes more apparent as your tongue, throat, and belly start to warm.

According to the Oskar Blues website:

Old Chub is a Scottish strong ale brewed with hearty amounts of seven different malts, including crystal and chocolate malts, and a smidge of US and UK hops. Old Chub also gets a dash of beechwood-smoked grains imported from Bamburg, Germany, home of the world’s greatest smoked beers . . . Old Chub is the beer equivalent of a lightly smoked single malt scotch, or your favorite dark chocolate. We call it Rocky Mountain Mutha’s Milk. People who tell us defiantly, “I don’t drink dark beer,” often fall deeply in love with Old Chub. We can’t blame them.

Overall, this is a sweet, malty beer that gains a pleasant depth due to plenty of roasted malt. There isn’t much of an obvious hop presence — true to form — though a peppery spice lurking around the aftertaste may indeed be due to the hops.

I’d recommend this beer to anyone who loves brown ales or porters, or beer drinkers who shy away from overly-bitter or oily hops. If you’ve had Old Chub, please use the comment form below to let me know what you think!

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2. Mama’s Little Yella Pils
3. Highland Brewing Oatmeal Porter
4. BrewDog Paradox Isle of Arran
5. The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout