Great Divide Belgica

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

Tap at Studio Square’s Craft Beer Week Fest 2009: Pale golden with good clarity and a thick pillowy dense white head with great retention. Very nice aroma- dry spicy with a lemon zest/lemon grass note and very dry Belgian pale/crackery malts with a subtle bread crust note and dry phenolics (almost seemed bretty). Creamy body. Softly sweet undertones- a doughy malt base with a dry yeast character balanced by herbal lemon grass hops (reminds me of Sorachi Ace). A very nice Belgian Ale that is quite underrated.

Nice golden ale with marshmallowy white head loaded with bubbles. Coriander, banana, apricot. Hoppy. Nice bitterness, quite dry, a little tinny. Warming immediately in the cheeks and back of throat.

Draft at Blind Pig in Champaign, IL. Voice memo rating. Pours golden with a white head. Aroma is faint, but I pick up some fruit and Belgian esters. Flavor of pear and apple, countered by American hops. Yeasty and white pepper finish with a hint of alcohol. Cold, you get more fruitiness, room temp gives you more spice phenols. A very nice experiment of what a yeast strain will do to a beer

from crackedkettle.com - hazy pale golden colour with a little white foam; correct lacing; fruity hoppiness with notes of litchis and pineapple; clean and rounded palate, quite full-bodied; a fair bitterness and a long fruity hoppy finish - fresh, clean and to the point; a beautiful beer again from this brewery

I can’t believe this is rated so low. Light bodied but strongly flavored. Taste is definitely leaning toward a witbier. There are a few elements of IPA, some noticable piney hops. Some apricot taste and a good many spices. Aroma of light yeast and wheat. The most drinkable beer I have had in a while. No alcohol taste.

12oz bottle. Pours a rich yellow gold with light haziness, a medium-sized persistent white head, and an endless upward stream of bubbles. The aroma consists of doughy, yeast malts with thick spice notes (clove, mace, nutmeg), moderate fruit (raisin), and a slight nuttiness. The flavor is also very spicy and very bready/doughy. There is also a note of earthiness and a very pleasant and very clean hop flavor. At mid-tongue - the spiciness and doughy yeast-roll character continue along with balancing spicy hop bitterness and the subtle flavor of ethanol. The finish is dry and spicy with phenols. It is lightly warming from alcohol as it goes down. The mouthfeel is very crisp, bubbly, and inviting with a balanced medium body and a very light astringency in the back. Overall, a very tasty and surprisingly drinkable brew. A touch less spicy fermentation character and a bit more hop aroma and flavor could have really pushed this one into the stratosphere.

Very yeasty baby food and clove aroma. Milky yellow with a medium white head. A bit of DMS with apricot and tangerine notes. Harsh parsley finish. Probably a poor sample of a mediochre beer.Belgian styles do not appear to be Great Divide’s strength. This beer isn’t even in the same area code as the Yetis.

Clear gold pour with a small, frothy, white head. The aroma is quite peppery and yeasty with notes of bread dough, clove, banana and lemongrass. The flavor is very dry and peppery. Lots of phenols dominate over the Belgian yeast clove and banana. The malt is very mild and flat and tastes something like toast or french bread. Finishes slightly vegetal. Body is medium with high carbonation and a dry finish.