Great Divide 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Denver, Colorado USA

22oz. Bomber. Darker than expected with a deep ruby hue and a dissipating bubbly froth. Nose shows oak, vanilla, caramel and a subdued floral hop presence. Flavor is similar to the nose but starts out with a malty sweetness and a vigorous oaked flavor that fades into a delicious mild bitterness. Palate is medium and the texture is slightly sticky and resinous. Finishes with a lingering woodiness, but no real bite. Sadly I feel that this beer has a little too much sugary vanilla character that detracts from the essence of its Imperial IPA origins.

22 oz. bottle. Amber orange in color and hazy with a thick cream colored head. Aroma is of vailla, caramel, light bread dough, pine, floral, and citrus. Taste is of pine, pepper, grass, earth, light vanilla and wood.

Tap at the brewery. This is a much better beer on tap than in the bottle. All the harshness has been taken out and the smoothness of the wood age is allowed to come through. Hops are in the background here as this beer is mild floral, sweetness, and a bit of funk. Very good on tap.

Tallahassee, Fl - Market Square Liquors - 22 oz bomber. Pours a somewhat sparkling copper with a soft off white head that leaves, good, but thin lacing. Hard to place aroma with faint hints of bourbon and a hint of chocolate. Full bodied flavor with some chocolate, muted citrus, some caramel, a bit of soggy kids fruit cereal. Mouthfeel is moderately thick. Overall, decent. I’m starting to tire of "barrel aged".

(bottle). Cloudy, dark copper color. Medium off white head. Moderate oak and citrus hop aromas. Oak and hop flavors, which seemed a little unbalanced. Avg duration. Light bitter finish. Slick texture. Soft carbonation. Good lacing.

Beautiful rust colored pour with tight tan lacing that persists. Aroma of malt and grapefruit/apricot. Light palate, surprising for such a big beer, but not overwhelmed by the hop. Less malt than I expected. Can hardly tell it was wood aged. Mostly, though, while quite good, it isn’t as good as the majority of DIPAs I’ve had.

8 3 8 4 18 Soft vanilla bean, pine needles, fruit, resiny rock floral candy nose. Deep orangey amber with some faint red hues, medium soapy head, nice lacing. Vanilla bean soaked in resin sugar syrup, balanced by a massive, but slowly building bitterness. Lively, but not overwhelming carbonation, full body, finish is soft, fruity, and creamy. Alcohol is ridiculously deceptive, showing a late warmth that reminds one that this is a big beer. This is a very delicate, but massive beer. Presumably the extended aging on oak chips has mellowed some of the extreme characteristics of a Double IPA (which I like too). Excellent beer.

Bottle thanks to xnoxhatex. Pours a red tinted orange with a nice sticky tall off-white thick froth with great lacing. Aroma is of strong oak, vanilla and coconut macaroons, some slightly oxidized citric and piney hops 7.5. Flavor is a bit more oxidized, strong on the sweet oak, toasted coconut and vanilla, caramel, tangy peach, sugary sweetness, lots of chewy resin. Medium bodied with a lighter mouth-feel, abundance of very lively sharp but fluffy carbonation, some chewy stickiness but the carbonation really helps break it up. This is probably best as a draft only type release, doesn’t quite pull it off the way the ST does, still very tasty.