Great Divide Belgica

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Denver, Colorado USA

Pours a clear light gold color with no head. Aroma is spicy, almost like deviled eggs and vinegar. Taste is pilsner-like; grass, citrus, and spice. There’s a funkiness to this beer that I can’t identify. Dry finish. Drinkable, but not totally enjoyable.

a crystal clear rich straw yellow colored pour sits below a soft almost frothy brilliant white head. a really earthy nearly pungent yeast aroma dominates... it almost smells like washed rind cheese... with pale malt sweetness, orange, grass, florals and some dusty spiciness. the palate is a touch too sweet up front but makes up for it with a very dry somewhat bitter finish. there is a bunch of that stank yeastiness taking over the flavor as well... lemon, straw, spice/pepper and some floral notes. pine shows up as it warms and contributes a bittered lingering aftertaste. the medium body feels a little on the rich side yet it is dry and hoppy.

any beer that states it pairs well with epoisses and can deliver is fine by me! 7/3/7/4/14/3.5

the belgian yeast certainly dominates the taste profile; however, the classic west coast citrus hops do exist. nothing at all like Stone cali-belgie where the IPA and bitterness takes hold...i enjoyed the spicy/banana nature of the belgian strain. is this really a %7.5? not sure it’s actually an IPA, but certainly enjoyed it...

Pours quite pale and clear with a foam that is not quite "Belgian" big. Aroma of pepper, mint, outdoors. Apples, cracked pepper, melons. Actually a good Belgain pale ale but not nearly enough hop flavor, aroma or bitterness be associated with an IPA from any region.

On tap. Pours a clear gold with little head. Aromas are not very interesting and flavor has a fairly astringent bite.

Pours golden w/ a tall froth that lingers leaving a lacy sheet. Aromatics pushing banana gum w/ an herbal twitch. Medium nectar w/ creamy carbonation. Malty w/ fresh tropicals and a nervous hop bitteing like asprin. The flavor seems to lose intensity as it rolls off the tongue. The finish is bittered leaving a pine resin stain, no fruit at all.

Courtesy Ian. Light slightly gold pour with a thick frothy white head. Big earthy hop, malt and Belgian esthers aroma. Taste is spicy bitter earthy hop taste with a nice malt crispness. Solid brew.

Described as a blend of styles (a "Belgian Style India Pale Ale"), I feared this beer might suffer from what many supposedly blended styles suffer from...a failure to represent the best of both styles and a combination of flavors that leaves the drinker thinking "Meh". Sadly, this was the case. More Belgian than IPA, in my opinion, the beer poured a nice but unremarkable medium gold. Everything after seemed Belgian, though perhaps a touch hoppier than normal. Very little "IPA" about this beer.