Great Divide 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA

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

bomber poured into a snifter... this beer is an absolute wonder.... I must find more before it’s gone forever.... As the beer is poured into the glass, it’s deep copper color forms along with a beautiful 2 finger white fluffy head.... this settles in a few minutes to a light coverage over the top... the hue and clarity of this beer is wonderful.... vanilla, oak, and piney hops fill the aroma... once the beer hits the tongue a magnificent smooth and creamy medium body takes force. it starts out subtle and delicate and then the piney and earthy hops dominate the top of the palate... some citrus notes come forward as well... throughout the tasting experience the oak rounds out the edges of the mouth and carries the aging process from start to finish.... at the back of the mouth, there is a balance between bitterness and the vanilla and oak characteristics of the barrel. the top of the finish is all hops, while the bottom and back carry the vanilla notes.... this is a special beer....

you can actually smell the oak along with the hops on the nose...wonderful. hazy dark amber pour with a nice frothy off white head. very intersting taste to say the least...taste the oak..but it is complicatedly delicious.

Bottle. Aroma has notes of caramel, oak, vanilla, resin, grass, pine, and citrus. Large frothy off-white head that lasted and left fantastic lace. Flavor is malty with a nice piney bite that finishes with a oak-vanilla aftertaste. Palate is medium-full bodied and soft. Fantastic brew that is very under rated for some reason. Complex and malty with a fantastic nose and look. No hint of that 10% ABV. Loved it!! Bravo GDBC!

22oz bomber. Pours a brilliantly clear copper with ruby highlights and a very large (and long-lasting) off-white head that leaves big sheets of lace all over the glass. The aroma is fantastic - earthy and floral (almost perfumey) hops painted expertly over a fruity and caramelly malt canvas with an amazing richness earthy vanilla richness from the wood. The flavor starts with an amazing and mesmerizing complexity of fruity esters, tangy sweet biscuity malts, and a soft oaky vanilla wood character. A delightfully fruity and floral hop flavor is nestled in there, too. At mid-palate, there is a pleasant and balancing level of resiny bitterness. A soft melanoidin/toast character in the malt emerges as well. A beautiful wood character entices the whole time. This beer has the most pleasant oak character I can remember from a wood-aged beer. The finish is dry with a subtle warmth from well-hidden alcohol. It has a pleasant hop bitterness with subtle sweetness from malts and from vanilla-like oak tones. Mouthfeel is full and creamy with a soft and pleasant bubbliness. Overall - amazing beer. This is a great oak-aged american barley wine. I think it’s a little thick and malty and slightly lacking in the hops area to be a great double IPA (as it’s labeled), but - labels aside - it is freakin’ good beer.

THOUGHTS: Great beer and a decent DIPA. The vanilla blunted or dampened some of the hops’ usual bluster. Hid alcohol incredibly well. Reminded me of Weyerbacher’s oak-aged beers. This will probably age well. Currently the vanilla is a bit overwhelming. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, medium copper, like a fairly old penny and was sort of amber in the light with a large, off-white head that mostly diminished and left excellent lacing. The aroma was moderate caramel malt; moderate floral and orangey hops; vanilla, cask wood and light alcohol. The initial flavor was rather sweet and lightly acidic; while the finish was a little more sweet and bitter with and average to long duration. There was toffee, caramel malt, vanilla, oak, orangey citrus hops and floral hops. Nice balance. The medium to full body was sort of oily, but also a little syrupy and then slightly dry at the end with tingly carbonation and a lightly alcoholic and slightly dry finish.

Pours a hazy copper with a thin white head. Smells of vanilla, dry malt, perfume, earthy. Tastes of dry maly, perfume, wildflowers, old wood, velvety. Excellent!

clear rust color under a large off-white head. soft hop, vanilla, oak, peach aroma. flavors of vanilla, oak, tangerine, orange slice candy, marshmallow, big oaky presence here that compliments the beer perfectly. man...i’ve had some good beers tonight! smooth silky velvety palate for a 2ipa made possible by the oak aging. this is superb!! unbelievable palate!

22 oz. bottle from Grape & Gourmet. Pours dark orange with a thick off-white head. Aroma of light citrus hops, earth, oak, vanilla, and bourbon. Excellent flavor of pineapple, citrus, and floral hops up front but with a smooth vanilla and caramel finish. Some sense of the alcohol content but more so because of the wood aging. I’ve had other wood aged DIPAs that I didn’t care for so much so this one really exceeded my expectations. This is quite extraordinary.