Category Archives: Great Divide

Hello everyone.  For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying the Great Divide Yeti produced by the Great Divide Brewing Company located in Denver, Colorado.

I have always been somewhat limited in the number of Great Divide brews that I’m able to obtain in my area, so I’m slowly working my way through their catalog.  This will be my first experience with the Yeti and I can’t wait.

From the website, greatdivide.com, we find this commercial description of this distinguished beverage. 

YETI IMPERIAL STOUT is an onslaught of the senses.  It starts with big, roasty malt flavor that gives way to rich caramel and toffee notes.  YETI gets its bold hop character from an enormous quantity of American hops.  It weighs in at a hefty 75 IBU’s. 

Into the glass it goes.

This beer comes in a 22 oz. bottle with an ABV of 9.5%.

It poured black!!!  It had a dark tan, mocha colored head that was sized very nicely.  It was smooth, creamy and soft with tiny, tightly compact bubbles.  The retention time was great and the lacing was phenomenal.  Just an awesome looking beer to tell the truth.   

Heavily roasted malts inundated the initial smell.  Espresso notes amalgamated with sweet chocolate and caramel.  Dried leaf hints mixed with some piny hops really added a nice and well balanced earthy tone.  I detected a slight creamy aroma too.  Very pleasing to say the least.  Truly, a harmonized and wonderful smelling beer right here.

The taste revealed that heavily roasted tone right off the bat.  Coffee beans, bittersweet chocolate and sugary caramel were the primary players.  Some pine flavors were found along with the most minute charred wood relish.  Toward the end it started to develop an almost milk chocolate like taste and only bare amounts of alcohol were even detected throughout the entire experience.  Very good and very well balanced without being overly complex or confusing.

The mouthfeel was medium to full bodied.  It was smooth, chewy, thick, slick and soft.  The carbonation was great as well.  A touch of warmth was welcomed and more than enough flavor was left behind completely drenching the palate long after the sip.

Well….. this is an excellent beer to say the least.  To begin with, it was one of the best looking brews that I’ve seen in a long time.  Not to mention that it was very tasty and fitting for the style.  I can definitely see why a lot of people rave and consider this brew to be one of the classics.  It was super easy to drink too.  I made my way through the bottle relatively quickly.  It’s definitely worth a try if you can secure it.  Like I mentioned earlier, it’s not extremely elaborate, but it just suits the style so well that it’s quite comforting and familiar.  I know I’ll probably pick it up again sometime soon (as well as the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti when it becomes available) and enjoy it on a cool evening.  You guys be sure to leave me a comment if you’ve tried the Great Divide Yeti and tell what you thought about it. 

Thanks for reading everyone.  I appreciate all of the support.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Grade:  4.35 out of 5
Grade:  A

Hello good people.  For today’s craft beer review I’m going to drinking a Great Divide Hercules Double IPA produced by the Great Divide Brewing Company located in Denver, Colorado.

Let’s jump right to the website, greatdivide.com, and find a description of this potent beer.

HERCULES DOUBLE IPA is not for the faint of heart.  It is, however, fit for the gods.  HERCULES delivers a huge amount of hops from start to finish.  Its hefty backbone of nutty, malty sweetness balances its aggressive hop profile. 

Sounds like a winner to me. 

This beer stands in at a sturdy 10.0% ABV and it comes in a 22 oz. bottle.

The brew poured a clear, pale orange to copper/amber color.  It had an eggshell colored head that was soft, creamy, fluffy and just a wee bit rocky.  It had great size and some very, very nice retention going on.  The lacing looked real good too.  After the head finally settled it left a thin skim of foam on top of the liquid for the duration of the drink.  It was a beautiful looking beer.

The smell exhibited a wonderful citrus aroma.  Hints of peach, mango and grapefruit.  Additional tones of pine and maybe even a little bit of honey were noticed.  It gave a nice jolt of caramel sugar also.  Once the brew was allowed to warm a steady waft of toasted breadiness really helped to balanced the nose quite a bit.  A real nice fragrance with this beer.

The grapefruit citrus came on like gangbusters with the initial taste.  Other tropical fruits were accounted for and significant amounts of bitterness could not be denied.  It was rather resinous and oily also.  Some pine and grassiness continued the hop profile and, like the aroma, some well needed, however robust, biscuity malt created a more harmonized flavor.  Strong caramel candied flavors burst through a little more with each and every sip.  A slight touch of alcohol was noticed, but it wasn’t near what I thought it might be.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied.  Dry, snappy, but smooth.  Sticky, crisp and chewy.  A small amount of warmth was left behind from the alcohol and more than enough flavor drenched the palate for enjoyment between sips.

Great Divide has made a very good beer with the Hercules Double IPA.  It’s big and bold in both the aroma and flavor and the appearance was exceptional also.  It’s definitely worth a try if you can get it.  The drinkability wasn’t bad either considering the 10.0% ABV.  One bottle was plenty for me, but some of you guys may be able to handle two during one evening.  One thing I did notice that could deter some was the fact that it did begin to get a little bit sweet as I neared the end of the bottle.   Either way, I still liked the beer very much and would have no problem drinking this again if it were offered. 

Have you guys had the Great Divide Hercules Double IPA?  What did you think of it?  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know.

Thanks for dropping by and reading another craft beer review guys.  I really appreciate it.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  4.2 out of 5
Grade:  A- 

For my first craft beer review of 2012 I’m going to be trying a Fresh Hop Pale Ale brewed by the Great Divide Brewing Company located in Denver, Colorado.

I’m really hoping that this new year goes as well as 2011 did as far as my reviews on this beer blog.  I’ve tried many great beers, met a lot of great people and hope that I can continue along the same path over the next 12 months.    

The website, greatdivide.com, has this to say about the Fresh Hop Pale Ale. 

Fresh Hop Pale Ale is brewed with fresh, whole cone hops from the Pacific Northwest.  We ship these “wet” hops to Denver overnight and brew shortly after harvest, imparting an intensely grassy hop aroma and citrus hop flavor in a medium-bodied ale. 

“Hoppy” New Year!!!

This brew comes in a 22 oz. bottle and stands in at 6.1% ABV.

The beer poured a semi-hazy, brilliant, pale orange color.  A medium aggressive pour produced a gorgeous, barely off white head that was wonderfully sized, creamy, smooth and soft.  The retention time was outstanding and the lacing was nice looking, sticky and clingy and left a thin film on top for the entire drink.  This was a very pretty beer.

The nose revealed fresh grassy and citrus hops.  Hints of pine, grapefruit and orange intermingled with light bready notes and caramel malts.  Very floral and perfumy.  I think I may have even been detecting a minuscule fragrance of yeast also.  Overall, very bright and fresh smelling.  Not overly complicated, but very well put together.

The taste was quite similar to the smell.  Tones of pine, grapefruit and orange brought forth a significant amount of hop bite and bitterness.  Very clean and fresh.  More indications of breadiness along with a modest sweetness from the caramel malt as well as a scant amount of honey.  Only a trace of alcohol was tasted at the very beginning, but it was long forgotten after I had a few swigs.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied, smooth, sticky, snappy, crisp, clean and very dry.  An exceptional amount of bitterness and flavor drenched the palate after each sip.  I was able to wait several minutes between gulps and was never left without flavor.

I’ll tell ya.  I really liked this beer.  It was very pungent and forceful for a Pale Ale in my opinion.  I think this would be a superb beer for Spring and Summer.  In fact, it was quite nice on this first day of January.  It was super easy to drink too.  I had absolutely no problem finishing this bomber all by myself.  In fact, I would like to have another one.  This brew is only released from October through December, so it may be a little harder to find now, but when next years batch rolls around, be sure to pick up a bottle or two and enjoy this very tasty beverage.

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone.  Have a great 2012!!!  Until next time.

Cheers.

Score:  4.2 out of 5
Grade:  A-