Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Bottle at Volo, September 2007. This thing is a beautiful almost-black colour; the lacy head holds a nice complex raisin aroma, coffee, rich chocolate, licorice. Mouthfeel is full and very pleasant. There’s roasted coffee, chocolate, vanilla in the flavour, some dark fruit, slight sweet sugar in the finish. I wish this got better distribution around here.

I’ve been hanging onto this one for about 5 months. This is good stuff, quite a bit better than the regular version. Pours thick and dark with a thin dark brown head with some retention. The aroma really is a nice scent that seemed to get even better the more it breathed with some molasses, oak, cherries, coffee and malt. I love the complexity to this. It’s very tasty with a lot going on but more mellow than expected with high drinkability. So the flavors are rather soft with bitter coffee, lots of oak and chocolate, and a dash of molasses. This is both roasty and creamy. Silky smooth. Really good, one of the best Impy Stouts I’ve had, and a class above the standard Yeti.

Tastes like a chocolate vanilla cream donut dipped in bourbon. Vanilla and oak really come through. Some hop bitterness makes this not too sweet and well balanced. A good beer to sip on a cool fall night.

Purchased at Tops Liquors in Tempe last winter, consumed in Scottsdale last week. Appearance is a dense brown hue, thick tan creamy head sustains, foamy swaths of lacing trickle down the sides. Smell is moderate roast malts, dark fruits, light chocolate and coffee, anise, brown sugar/molasses, vanilla, wood, cherries, and moderate alcohol. Taste is initially dominated by roast malts/ dark fruits/ vanilla/ alcohol, midway enters chocolate and coffee malts, heavy oak wood tones dominate at times, finishes with dry sweetness and light booze. Mouthfeel is full-bodied, creamy smooth texture, lively carbonation. Drinkability is moderate, decent example of the IRS style but the malts are lacking in body and boldness, dark fruits and wood flavors are somewhat overwhelming, good overall taste profile, I would like to see how this compares to the non-oak version of Yeti.

Pours black with a large brown head. Head never seems to dissipate. Strong aroma of roasted malts, wood, and for some reason tobacco. Very well balanced for all the different flavors that come out as you drink more of it. Closer to the finish, the taste is of strong alcohol and chocolate. This is definately a huge beer, and it needs to be enjoyed as such. Perfect winter beer.