Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti

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

Bomber, split with redlight. A dark mahogany body is ever so slightly translucent at the edges, crowned by a small head of mocha colored foam. Feathered, spotty fans of lacing mark the glass. The aroma explodes with chocolate, deep and dark, rich with bittersweet goodness. The oak seems more of an afterthought here, as the chocolate envelopes everything, even the underlying coffee roast. The flavor is equally striking, like a liquid chocolate dessert, intensely sweet up front with a bit of soft roast on the back end. I don’t pick up any of the cayenne spicing, just massive wave after massive wave of chocolate. This reminds me of a base beer for Cigar City Hunahpu’s, only scaled down a bit and not nearly as prominently spiced. It’s more chocolaty than both Foothills Sexual Chocolate and Southern Tier Choklat, two standard bearers for chocolate stouts. The palate is smooth, silky, and well balanced, though a bit sugary sweet after a few sips. This one is a decadent dessert brew, and though I certainly couldn’t finish a bottle by myself, it is great in small doses if you’re a fan of chocolate.

Pours black with a medium sized brown-tan head. Aroma is significantly less hoppy than the typical Yeti with dark chocolate, cinnemon, toast, mild earthy hops, wood, and light vanilla. Tastes of dark chocolate, sweetened espresso, dirt, earthy hops, wood, traces of vanilla, and the cayenne is definitely making itself known. Finishes way hotter and spicier than I think is appropriate, but there’s still some good chocolate, oak and earth flavors swirling about well into the aftertaste. Thick bodied, but not too heavy at all, this somehow seems thinner than the other Yetis (that may be all that spicy heat talking though). Pretty good, but tone down the cayenne!

Pours black as downtown and thick as a 700 pound woman. Thick and syrupy with not much head to speak of. Main aromas are of cocoa, some vanilla, some wood and some bourbon. The taste is similar . and Ill go out on a limb here, but I taste a touch of blueberry in this. The chili pepper notes are wonderful in the finish and make me wish I had many more bottles of this fine beer. There is a slight alcohol burn as it makes its way down...Holy shit is this good. The palate is smooth and rich. The first taste I had was ok....but as it warms up to the right temperature, it becomes increasingly one of my favorites.Imperial stout on a 95 degree in the shade day? Hell yes.

This beer pours VERY dark and thick. The head is quite substantial with large bubbles. At first it was cascading waterfalls similar to Guinness, but rather than dissipating the head solidified a dark brown composed of large dark bubbles. The aroma is bitter chocolate and coffee, but there is a sweet hint of molasses. It’s hard to believe ratebeer has this listed as a seasonal summer. This beer is very thick and heavy, and you probably wouldn’t want to drink it in the sun. That said, it has a lot of good flavor, and it is a great beer to drink out of the direct sun and heat. It has a hefty bitter coffee/chocolate flavor. The bitterness really hits around the sides of the tongue, but the beer is quite pleasant and easy to drink with an almost creamy texture in the mouth.

22. capped and foiled. pours a beautiful black with a big thick chunk dark brown mousse of creamy bubbly goodness. nice bold coffee, chocolate, bourbon, oak, and vanilla nose. thick, creamy, slightly chalky body. delectable chocolate, coffee, bourbon, vanilla, oak, roast, and dark fruit mid palate. long sticky roasty chocolate finish. worth repeating.

bomber poured into a snifter.... pitch black pour with a huge 3 finger tan head.... absolute beauty. aromas of mild chocolate, a touch of oak, and big roasted malts... I was hoping for a bit more out of the aroma on this one.... not quite up to par with the regular oak aged yeti.... medium body with slight chocolate notes on the sides with a huge spice presence up front that carries through to the finish... this spice dominates the palate and really conquers the beer.... i don’t get much chocolate from this with the spice being so powerful... with that said, the spice adds a very nice and interesting element to the beer, but is turned up a bit too much.... wish there was more chocolate on this one and less spice.... overall a nice twist of an imperial stout, but its leaving me a bit confused and disappointed.

On tap at Papago. Pours pitch black with a one finger creamy tan head. The nose is roasted malt, baker’s chocolate, cocoa and vanilla flavored coffee. The taste is lots of wood, burnt malt, bitter chocolate, coffee and a slight boozy finish. Medium semi-creamy mouthfeel. Another delicious Yeti variation.

Rich and chocolaty, roasted, sweet, and most enjoyably a slight hot cayenne bite in the finish. I think this is outstanding. Very interesting!