Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Denver, Colorado USA

Not bad, but a little disappointed. It sure doesn’t beat out the regular Yeti or at the Oak Aged Yeti. The aroma and flavor is pretty much just dominated by bitter dark chocolate. I was hoping for more of a complex brew with more malts and roasted flavors. But it’s fairly one dimensional.

Bomber. Pours a thick black with a small beige head, thin lacing. Aroma is bar mocha with a hint of vanilla, very sweet. Nice chocolate flavor, some vanilla with some sort of fire underneath, leaves a burn at the end, kind of like a mild chipotle pepper. Syrup like viscosity, very sticky. Very good, seems to lack a little of the balance of the regular Yeti or Oak Yeti, but worth a try.

2009 Bottle - Thanks StFun! - Pours a thick dk brown with a small beige head...aroma is cocoa malt, roast and a bit of heat...flavour is very nice, cocoa, coconut, sticky malt, the back of my throat is a bit burny and I don’t know if it’s the sugar or the alcohol, but that is the only thing I hate about this beer, like acid reflux premonition...at any rate, I have a hard time comparing Yeti’s against each other, so I’ll just maintain that they are all very good...

22 oz served in snifter. Opaque black with a thin tan head, and it looks to have moderate carbonation. Dark chocolate is accompanied with pepper and musty wood aromas. Soft, creamy mouthfeel with a syrupy stickiness. Flavors of dark chocolate yield to bourbon and vanilla. The red pepper (read the bottle – it’s in there) shows up in the aftertaste, and although subtle, it intensifies as you get deeper into the glass, and lends an interesting burn to offset the other flavors. Tasty brew, but give me the regular ‘ol Yeti and I’m an even happier camper.

Large bottle. I love all the Yeti stouts. This one doesn’t quite reach the level of some of the other Yetis though it is still quite good. Not as much chocolate taste as I would expect for something labeled a chocolate stout. The oak flavor is more noticable.

Bottle. Poured dark brown with a small dark tan head. Aroma of dry cocoa, milk chocolate, roasted malt, light coffee, vanilla. Taste is similar, with the oak being a little more subdued than other oaked GD brews. Mouth is on the light side of imperial stouts. Finish is lightly bitter and smooth. Overall, a nice brew.

On tap at the brewery on 7/18/09: Pours jet black with heavy mocha head. Distinct cocoa aroma with molasses hiding behind it. Very sweet chocolate on the tongue. Then, the dark molasses and oak flavor hits second. Then, this finishes with a very slow cayenne burn. Not too full bodied and gains increasing complexity with warmth. Note: this had significantly more cayenne than when I tried it from the bottle a month earlier. I’m anxious to let a few of these bottles age for a few years and see how it develops.

Bottle. Pours with a deep black color. Aromas of cocoa and chocolate and a bit of wood. Nice chocolate flavors, the pepper comes through in the finish, but very subtle. Well rounded beer.