Great Divide St. Bridgets Porter (St. Brigids)

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

Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of toasted and dark chocolate, light herbs and earth for the hops and yeast, with hints of vanilla and black olives. Head is huge, frothy/rocky, light tan with fair lacing and is fully lasting. Color is clear dark brown. Initial flavor is lightly sweet and moderately acidic, and the finish is lightly acidic and bittersweet. Palate has a great combination of a medium to full body, a creamy texture and a carbonation between livley and fizzy. It finishes lightly alcoholic. Robust is an apt description of this Porter. It’s full of flavors yet simple aromas, and is very well balanced.

Very dense opaque brown color. Sweet malty aroma is replayed in taste with a surprisingly massive sweet body. It’s satisfying but ultimately a bit one-noteish... I wonder if aging would relieve the heavy residual sweetness. Chocolate coffee demererra smoke and wet hay.

A nicely spiced chocolate aroma with mainly grassy hints. Fairly roasted bitterness with a chocolate smoothness. A fairly dry and long lasting finish.

On tap at the brewery on 7/18/09. Pours dark brown with tan head. Coffee and caramel aroma and roasted nut notes. Little sweet honey nut (cheerios) flavor but balanced with a good bitterness. Pretty full bodied porter.

A cola-like pour with a short, almost tan head. Minimal lacing. The aroma was roasted malts, smoke and coffee with some thin chocolate. The flavor was smoke and roasted malt with dry chocolate coming in at the end. Thin and drinkable. An average and in no way outstanding porter.

Pours a very dark chestnut brown color with dark ruby edges and a tan foamy head that settles into a nice lacing. Very roasty malt aroma with hints of chocolate, coffee and nut. Very smooth roasted malt flavor with coffee, chocolate, oatmeal, toffee, smoke and hops. Slightly hoppy up front giving way to creamy malt center and a dry, bitter and slightly smokey finish

12 oz bottle courtesy of Siciliano’s (Grand Rapids, MI). Pours a fairly transparent dark brown with some dark blood red notes, a big tannish head that eventually settles to a decent layer, laces a bit. Aromas are a bit floral and fruity at first, moving into a roasted malt and dark chocolate feel, however the darker fruits and floral hops definitely are present. Roasty barley, subtle coffee, and light cocoa. Initial is lighter bodied, a bit bitter and floral and very tobacco-like in my opinion. Good hopping for the style, a bit fruity, tobacco takes over the roast, a touch of chocolate, as tobacco and roasted coffee stay on the palate along with the hopping. Almost a menthol like feel to this beer, which is quite odd, but not necessarily bad. Roast and hops, a palatable beer, just different. Chocolate only starts to come out far into the back, still surrounded by hops, menthol tobacco, and light ashy smoke. I thought this was ok overall.

Another really incredible beer from the brewers at Great Divide. As I was drinking this, do they really make a bad beer? I’d sure love to keep drinking their stuff and find out.

This pours out a rich dark brown color, nearly black with some garnet edges and a thick tan head. Aroma is an explosion of chocolate, caramel, dark fruits with some light coffee and smoke. Flavor really brings the mocha notes, with strong choco-coffee goodness. Didn’t really hit me with detectable hops, but the lingering bitterness reminded me of eating dark chocolate (maybe that was the hops). This is definitely a repeat.