Beer of the Week: Dale's Pale Ale

DALE"S PALE ALE

Type: American pale ale

Maker: Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery, Lyons, Colo.

Alcohol: 6.5 percent

Cost: $2 for 12 ounces at Grape and Gourmet, 4000 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach.

"Good beer in a can" used to be an oxymoron. Thanks to Oskar Blues, that is no longer the case. The Colorado brewery started canning Dale's Pale Ale in 2002 as a kind of joke, but they sparked a revolution.

Cans are superior packaging over bottles. They are easier to sanitize, stack and recycle and harder to break. The aluminum protects against spoilage. And the beer? Well, it's pretty great, too. The aroma is full of hops - big piney, citrusy American hops of the kind that make beer geeks salivate. On the back end, the taste switches from pine-tree and grapefruit to floral and fruity.

- Bill Manley, Link