Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

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

750 mL. Pours pitch black with an extremely dark brown head one-finger head. Sheets of lacing. Holy crap. Aromas of molasses, maple syrup, espresso, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, black licorice, vanilla extract, tobacco, and some wood notes. I expected this to be more intense and harsher than the normal Yeti, but this is infinitely smoother, richer, creamier, and all around just plain better. Tremendous soft and velvety mouthfeel. Tons of unsweetened dark chocolate and espresso with a long piney hops finish. 9.5% is well masked. This is outstanding.

Draught. Pours opaque dark brown with a small whispy tan head that leaves good streaky lacing. Aroma thick with licorice and dark chocolate with light oak and vanilla undertones. Rich bittersweet flavor again out front with dark chocolate and licorice with subtle creamy vanilla and oaky woody notes. Full bodied, very smooth and creamy with moderate fine carbonation. Excellent all around.

650 ml bomber from trade with mreusch. Pours an ink black color with a big brown head. The aroma is rich with coffee, cocoa, dark fruits and licorice. The flavor is also rich and complex with loads of oak, tobacco, leather, coffee, biter walnuts and mocha. The mouthfeel is silky smooth and creamy with soft carbonation. The finish is long and biter. Overall: This is one very fine IRS, I loved it. Thanks Matt.

Black with a smaller head. Great smell of the oak age. A hearty beer not for the faint of heart. Strong alcohol is apparent with strong coffee, oak, and maple aromas. Taste is complex with chocolate and heavy maltiness.

This beer poured an almost jet black color with a big brown head that lasted a while. The aroma is of roasted barley, chocolate, some espresso, and maybe just a hint of the oak. Flavor is similar, but some vanilla and caramel also come through. The mouthfeel is good, maybe just a tad thinner than I had anticipated. I did not even notice the 9.5% alcohol. This is a great beer that I will have again (and again).

22oz bottle. Black with a small tan head. Piney hops, sawdust, and light cocoa aroma. Bitter, hoppy, and very oaky with a light chocolate sweetness. This is just a totally astringent oak overload. Feels like there is sawdust drying out the tongue. The finish is like wood scraping out the inside of your mouth and it feels horrible. (2.2) Rerate: I had to try this again to see if my first experience was a palate freak-out, and it might have been, just a little bit. I still find this to be horribly unbalanced, with way to much bitterness and tannic astringency, but it wasn’t unbearable like last time. The aroma was actually nice, but the flavor domination of bitterness and oak chips is still something that I’m not really keen on.

On tap at Brouwer’s. This one grows on me every time I have it, if nothing else for the fact that the oak comes through so beautifully. Pours black, with a solid tan head. Aroma and flavor match wonderfully - dark chocolate and oak (to the point of pine, almost) predominate, with molasses and a bit of coffee on the back end. Thick mouthfeel, with enough carbonation to keep it clean. Masks the alcohol pretty well. Great stuff, especially for how often I find it available.

Glass at brewery tasting room 10/14/2008. Nice roasty aroma with oak notes coming through. Almost opaque with small tan head and lots of lacing. Clean dry woody finish with roast and some grain astringency. Excellent.