Oskar Blues Brewery first began canning its beer in 2002, the first American craft brewer (or microbrewer if you prefer, which I used here) to do so, and it was its flagship Dale’s Pale Ale that was the first beer to be canned. This year is the 20th anniversary of that first canning, and to celebrate, Oskar Blues is releasing Double Dale’s Imperial IPA.

Here’s the press release with details:

2022 marks the 20th anniversary of Dale’s Pale Ale, the voluminously hopped, groundbreaking American Pale Ale that holds the distinction of being the first craft beer ever packaged in a can. To mark the milestone, Oskar Blues Brewery announces the release of Double Dale’s Imperial IPA, a double-take on the beer that started it all. Double Dale’s is available now nationwide in single-serve 19.2 oz cans, in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans, and on draft.

Two decades ago, Oskar Blues Brewery sent shockwaves through the beer industry when they packed Dale’s Pale Ale into a can. It was then an unheard-of packaging decision, but the reasons were obvious to the OB team: it allowed everyone to easily take craft beer on the trail AND it delivered a fresher beer. Now, Double Dale’s Imperial IPA picks up the torch, the welder, and the hacksaw to turn the industry upside down again, doubling down on hops with a newly formulated, massive IPA worthy of the legendary original craft beer in a can.

“It’s impossible to improve upon such a classic recipe, so we went in a slightly different direction with Double Dale’s,” said Oskar Blues Lyons’ Head Brewer Juice Drapeau, who piloted the new beer at the brewery’s original Lyons, Colo. location. “Double Dale’s captures some of the citrus and caramel character of Dale’s, while achieving its own unique flavor profile and identity. We wanted to create something new and fresh that would live up to the legacy Dale’s Pale Ale created – most importantly being a boundary stomping, hopped-up beer.”

Double Dale’s is brewed with juicy, tropical El Dorado and complex Talus hops, keeping with the Dale’s tradition of utilizing only American hops. Fruity, piney flavors from the hops mingle with a caramel-driven malt bill, and the whole beast is supported by a new mineral-forward house blend of H2O, which includes six brewing salts. The result is a larger-than-life spin on Dale’s that’s just as packable, drinkable and recyclable as the original.

As I noted here, Oskar Blues is now owned by Monster Beverages, which purchased CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective of which OB was a part.