Smells Like Collaboration: DC Brau and Oskar Blues Brew “Smells Like Freedom”

At this weekend’s growler hours, DC Brau will offer a sneak peak at a beer brewed with Colorado’s Oskar Blues. The beer, an India Pale Ale, is designed in no small part to celebrate the legalization of marijuana in the District of Columbia. We talked with Brau co-owner and -founder, Brandon Skall, to talk about the beer, which will be formally launched at Meridian Pint on Tuesday, March 17th.

DC Beer: How did this collaboration come about? What was the DC Brau – Oskar Blues relationship before this collaboration, and who pitched who on the beer?

Brandon Skall: The seeds of this collaboration were planted at the Craft Brewer’s Conference (CBC) here in DC in 2013. Oskar Blues’ Jeremy Rudolf and Jim Weatherwax visited our brewery during the conference and we hit it off. They really enjoyed our beers, we professed our love for Dale’s Pale Ale, both the taste and as a canned craft beer pioneer. [ed: This makes sense, as both Dale’s Pale Ale and The Public are hop-forward beers that straddl