Great Divide Samurai

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Denver, Colorado USA

A super easy drinking lager like blonde ale. I was impressed. Very thirst quenching. Most people rate against this style because it lacks flavor and well, it’s supposed to, ok.

Dullishly pale and lighter toned lemony whitened yellow. Chill hazed body to start then clears up a bit. Grows an all encompassing bright, starchy white head as its poured. Settles slowly to a decent pinky high crunch of floppy foam. Tons of lacing in thick patches and strings coat the glass like sticky rice. Mild yet complexingly sweet and breadish aroma of pale malt, grain, and very dull lemon/melon candy-like hints. Nice bready sweetness to it and Munich Helles-like tone. Taste is quite nice and rounded with a fine and fluffy mildly complex bready sweetness. The taste itself is quite simple really, it’s just got this overwhelming cleanness and a great length of tone and body to it; it’s incredibly hard to put down. I just keep drinking it! It’s not over powering and it’s not light either. Its dead on with a swift, clean kesa cut of pale malt sweetness, a bit pretzely, and grainy fluffed texture. It’s the length of tone and flavor that really stands out for me on this one. Body is clean and wholesome with a semi fluffy texture of breads and grains. About medium bodied if not a bit more due to its caring and lengthy tone and character. It’s slightly sweet and yet paled down with a terrific profile of high crafted goodness. Much like a well-forged katana, this stuff will cut right through you. Damn easy to drink; and as if there ever was a doubt Great Divide could do something like this to a style that always lacks. Solid as the stance of a Samurai and lengthy as a cut from the blade of their wielding katana. This stuff is surprisingly beneficial and honorable. Osu!

A pale golden pour with coloration hints of a blend of apple juice and green apple skins isn’t hazy enough to hide steady, streaming carbonation that supports a thin white head. The thinly but fully lacing foamy topper lingers the whole time the beer is being consumed, bright and vibrant. Quite the sexy blonde ale. The nose is bready and fresh, not a hint of must or anything that I’d deem offensive. Rather, this has a refreshing scent that commands multiple deep whiffs. Sweetness is barely apparent, a linear lemon note caressing the boundaries of the nose, dancing around grains and rice. This seems to have a German malt profile influence, or at least that’s where it leads. Very mellow hints of floral hops creep out as the temperature rises. The first sip reveals intense flavor characteristics that revolve around a wonderful mouthfeel and crisp, complex malt essence. Sweetness is mild, imparting grassy notes and lemon sweetness, with subtler hints of rice that only serve to further lend to a tremendous experience. Acidity is mild and cuts through what little sweetness present without much astringency. A salty component accentuates the breadiness, furthering a nourishing, even invigorating, taste.The best part of the flavor is that from start to finish it’s level and thoroughly at the top of the style. The finish is bready, lightly sweet, then slowly drying, grain and slight rice sweetness lingering indefinitely. This is really quite the surprise. Drinkability is exceptional; I love the mouthfeel. The beer rests on the palate with a weightiness that isn’t overbearing, but eases the glide down the throat - a light-medium body with great texture from soft but adequate carbonation and a wonderful unfiltered mouthfeel. It’s robust but smooth, lively but easygoing. Excellent, a beer that is likely to remain misunderstood by connoisseurs and novices alike.

12oz Bottle - Gravity Bottle shop, Oly
Golden yellow semi hazy with a thick head. Had a clean crisp flavor which was flaaovred with some rice of which was very good. This was a great summer time beer. Very criap and cold and yummy.

Bottle 355 ml
Appearance: pours as golden frisky brew with quiet large white foamy head. Slight haze shown.
Nose: soft fruity nose , hint of orange peel , wheat , candi and pils malt
Flavor/Palate : mid bodied. Light nutty earthy tomes with golden background. Very drinkable with enough soft palate smeared with leafy wet hop to be balanced. I could drink this all day. What else you might want. Bit dry with hint of alcohol , wet hop character with soft silky body.

Perfect hot summer session ale. Rice addition really gives this a distinctive crispness. Plenty of malt and hints of citus and pear. It is much lighter of course but reminds me of some of my favorite old ales. Best I can recall in a style that usually disappooints me.

I enjoyed the golden and malty Samurai with snacks and sushi. Noting the other rater’s highlights of herbal notes and a crisp finish, the lighter ale was easy to drink.

12 oz. brown bottle, notched bottling date along the right side of the label (month September, 4th week), sampled in a pint glass. Poured an unfiltered cloudy golden pale yellow with a bright white head of creamy, sudsy foam. Decent head retention and a light amount of ringed laced sticking. The aroma has a nice lemony citric smell with traces of orange zest. Not much in the way of maltiness, but then I wasn’t expecting any, just a hints of sweet malts and powdery flour. At the edges is a very light grassiness. Ample carbonation gives the moderate body a smoothly crisp feeling in the mouth, for an ale with rice as an ingredient, this has an well rounded mouthfeel. The hops shine in the taste, lemony and orangey, with a peppery spiciness coming out in the finish. In the middle is a subtle, mildly tart green apple and pear fruitiness. The barley and rice mix provides a restrained sweetness, complimenting, but not interfering with the hop flavors. Finishes crisp and dry with a nice cutting spicy bitterness. I thought this was a successfully designed rice ale by Great Divide, light and refreshing, a good beer to start the night with.