Great Divide Brewing Company

Okay, when we started the Drink board, some time shortly after I moved to Kansas City, I planned to do an exhaustive series on Great Divide beers. I hadn't had them before, but my local liquor venue carried pretty much the full line and I worked through them to great satisfaction. I've got a whole bunch of rambling notes from then until now, and some I've tried but forgotten to note altogether. Spurred on by Greasy Spoon's callout, I'm going to just go ahead and post as is. This may be more than anyone cares to read, but here are some Great Divide tasting notes:

Titan IPA – The India Pale Ale is my go-to beer of microbreweries, my standard-bearer by which I usually give my first impression of the brews, like my wife ordering chicken enchiladas at a Tex-Mex restaurant. Thus, it was my first encounter with Great Divide, and a very fine IPA it is.

It’s funny in a way, that with as many IPAs as I drink, I find myself somewhat ill-equipped with a vocabulary to differentiate them. The Titan is very, very good. I was intrigued straight away, but not completely won over. To me, that’s a good sign, as it signals enough complexity to keep you interested. It’s got a nice pale, golden color. The nose is clean, slightly herbaceous.

The beer drinks easy, with a generous but not overwhelming hop kick. Maybe I drink too many over-hopped beers, because I notice the bottle claims “brewed for hop disciples,” but it doesn’t strike me as a beer that hits you over the head with its hops. That may be in part because it’s really terrifically balanced, with a good malty sweetness serving a nice undertone for a pleasantly punchy hop finish. And a long finish too. A very fine IPA, and when I head to the liquor store for a six-pack, I’m as likely as not to return with the Titan.

Yeti Imperial Stout – This is an excellent beer, at least. It strikes me that Imperial Stouts are generally very highly regarded among beer aficionados; among its peers I don’t have enough experience to say how Yeti stacks up. I quite enjoyed this one. It has a tremendous nose, wonderful and rich, reminiscent of a certain kind of chocolate-covered cherry (no, not those kind). The nose sort of reminds me of a dark, strong Belgian (uh, beer), like a Bernardus Abbot 10 perhaps. Quite different on the palate, though. It’s deep, lots of character though fewer distinct flavors, and that initial malty depth is quickly seconded by a hearty wave of tasty hops. The hops don’t quite overwhelm, and that leaves a nice, multilayered finish. Really good stuff. I purchased this and the Oak-Aged Yeti explicitly for this post (for science!) and I’m really looking forward to that tomorrow.

Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout – Certainly similar to the regular Yeti in some respects, though it strikes me as smoother, a little more mellow, and at first blush little less complex. More vanilla in the nose than the dark-chocolate of the other. Hops aren’t nearly as aggressive here, and the beer overall has more balance. This brew has a really long, beautiful finish. It really wears its high alcohol content well…it’s a pretty easy drinking brew. It’s not in your face, but it will treat you right. At the end of 22 oz., I can confidently say that this version makes you want to crack open another and keep going in a way the non-oak-aged does not. This is really a very fine beer. (As an aside, I might compare these two to the two Old Potreros…fun oak comparison.)

Saint Bridget’s Porter – Don’t have a lot to say about this, other than that it’s a nice porter. Not all strangely hoppy, nice chocolatey nose, light body for a porter, nice finish, very easy to drink. I mostly like porters. This isn’t a blow-me-away beer, but its one I find myself reaching for with some regularity in these cold, snowy, February days.

Old Ruffian Barley-Wine Style Ale – This has been my least favorite Great Divide beer to date, not so much because its bad, but because it doesn’t seem much like a barley wine (excuse me for not continuing to include “-style ale”). The heavy hop content doesn’t work for me with this type of brew. It’s very big all around—big hops, big alcohol (10.2%), big bottle (22 oz). The high alcohol content is entirely appropriate here, but I really liked it when Anchor used to sell Old Foghorn in 7 oz bottles, which I thought was a nice size for a postprandial barley wine.

The advantage to the large bottle is that one has (if they, uh, choose to drink it all by themselves in one sitting) a chance to warm up to the style, and the alcohol kicks in a little. Midway through, you know, it’s fine, still a very decent beer, but it still doesn’t give me the depth or complexity or any of the subtlety I’m looking for in this style of beer.

Ridgeline Amber – I usually don’t like amber ales, but I like this one a lot. Not much more to say here.

Hercules Double IPA – I’ve bought several of these now in the big bottles (I think that’s the only way they come) always with the intent to sit down and write about it. I’ve never made it that far. This is a very fine beer. It packs a wallop of hops, as you might expect, but I don’t find it overwhelming. It’s rich, complex, and pretty to look at. And hey, it’s named after a Greek man/god. Really a very nice brew.

Samurai Ale – Not quite sure what to make of this brew. It’s a pretty light ale, vaguely reminiscent of a wit beer or an American wheat, but brewed with rice instead of wheat. Dare I say it tastes a bit “rice-y”? I can’t tell if I’m projecting that or not. It certainly doesn’t have the citrus or herbal characteristics of a wheat beer. Surely there are some analogs out there, but I’m not overly familiar with them. It’s got a pale cloudy color, unfiltered, and a bit of sweetness in the nose. Pours with a nice head.

I’m drinking the first of a six-pack right now…very early impression…it’s an easy drinking beer, and for Great Divide, pretty light hops, one of the few of theirs I’d sample I can see as a session brew. At first blush, I’m not sure I’d keep this regularly in stock, but it’s the kind of simple but worthy brew I can see missing when the six are gone.

…now about halfway through the second…enhhh. Probably not enough here to bring me back.

***

I somehow missed notes on their ESB, which is a great session beer. Not too hoppy, not too boozy, you can drink it all night long. A nice counterpoint to the Titan.

I've also tried the Fresh Hop Pale Ale and the Hibernation Ale and don't really recall much about them at this point. I may or may not have tried the Wild Raspberry Ale and Denver Pale Ale.

Great Divide is available in Chicago, which I was surprised to learn after I "discovered it" here. It's a really fine brewery, and while I understand the faithfulness to the locally-promoted regional micros, Great Divide is worth a hard look by anyone who really likes beer.

+1 for the recommendation

The brewery has a new (1-2 years) tap room too that occasionally has beers that don't make it here. It's worth a visit when in the LoDo Denver area and isn't that bad of a walk from the 16th Street Mall or nearby hotels. Street and lot parking should be available but I don't know the rates/times.

I found a six of the Denver Pale Ale the other day, and I don't know if it's a bad batch or what, but it's a surprising disappointment. Way too much foam (which leads me to believe there's something screwy with the six, not just one mishandled bottle), but also the bitterness is more pronounced than I would like in an English-style pale ale, which this is.

Label says it's won a lot of awards, though. I'll definitely give it another shot.

I was hoping to approximate Acme's California Pale Ale, which is really a terrific beer I've recently discovered. The IPA is pretty commonly available here, and it's nice enough, but I get a little bored of the overhopped American IPA, and this one doesn't do much to recommend itself.

The regular Pale Ale, however, has a great balance and drinks smooth. I like it a lot.