Great Divide 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA

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

The appearance is a very nice reddish hue with a solid head that hangs around for a while, very nice looking beer. The smell is somewhat interesting, mostly caramel malt with almost no hops in the nose. Troublesome, and the taste is as feared; the hops in this one are dead, and while it’s been 4 months since this beer was fresh I had hoped it held some decent hop flavors. I’ve had Old Guardian that was 2 years old that had a much more lively hop presence. The mouth feel is OK, with some creaminess at front, but it becomes somewhat thin and watery. Not what I was hoping for out of a personal favorite brewery.

Bomber into snifter. Pours a clear deep copper with off white sudsy head with good lacing. Aroma is oak, vanilla, caramel, hops. Taste is overwhelmed by new oak, sweet malt and caramel there as well. Hops present in the finish, but the oaky bitterness persists on the tongue even after. May have been better in a bourbon barrel perhaps, the new oak used is almost too much. Nonetheless, a very interesting beer. I feel the oaked southern tier dipa is much better though.

Pours dark amber with a tan, fluffy head that laces well from the 22oz. bottle into my plastic cup on Juno Beach (West Palm, FL): Floral hops and citrus are muted by vanilla, and sweet caramel malts that are brought on by the oak chips. Drinkability: Warm alcohol, decent bitterness, medium- to full-bodied, a little syrupy, and sticky texture. Rebuy: Not anytime soon. #235 on 28112009, DG.

A nice beer. Aroma was nice. Strong vanilla and oak notes. Pour was a beautiful dark copper/gold/light brown. The barrels really imparted a great color to this beer. Taste was very unbalanced. The oak and vanilla dominate any flavor this beer may have had. Can’t really pick up much flavor other than some sweet caramel malt that comes in and out. As it warms there is a wood flavor that becomes more dominant on the back of the tongue. Little carbonation. An IIPA doesn’t seem like a beer that would make sense to age in oak, but I’m glad I tried it. Very interesting.

Bottle. Malt aromas are of heavy caramel and roasted, moderate to heavy pine and orange for the hops, light broth for the yeast, with date and wood in the background. Head is small, frothy white with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is hazy orange/red. Flavor starts moderately sweet and acidic, then finishes lightly sweet and moderately acidic and bitter. Palate is medium, oily with a lively carbonation and a lightly alcoholic finish. A great DIPA with a nice twist of wood aging thrown in.

From the Bottle at TAG Restaurant, Denver 22/09/2009 Whisky and vanilla aroma. Golden amber coloured and very strong in alcohol with a dry and bitter oaked malt finish.

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.

Bomber picked out of fridge by Wendy for #2500. Good vanilla wood aroma. Orange body with off white head. Flavor was pretty much all vanilla and some wood with some sweet malt in the background. Only bad note about beer is this really an Imperial IPA? More like a vanilla style brew but that style doesn’t exist. Creamy on the palate easy drinkable brew for alcohol content.