Great Divide Barrel Aged Hibernation

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

750 ml bottle; thanks for sharing Brandon; bottle 248 of 492; pours dark brown with off-white head; espresso, chocolate, rich, dry and ashy; sweet bourbon, cookies, vanilla; love the chocolate notes and barrel is nicely muted and complementary; thin texture with bourbon sweetness and chocolate; quite sweet without being an overbearing sugar bomb; yummy

Bottle courtesy of a generous RB at tpd975’s throwdown in December, 2009. Pours a hazy amber to cola brown with a thin off-white head. Aroma is sweet and malty with notes of bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, oak, light floral esters. Flavor is also sweet and malty with notes of ripe dark fruit, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, wood, hints of smoke. Medium body with a malty booze finish.

750mL bottle, #316/492, poured into a snifter. Pours a dark hazy mahogany that shines through as a dark amber with a decent head that’s made up mostly of big bubbles that linger around the edges after a while. The aroma is dominated by wood and bourbon...and not a whole lot else. There is a hint of dark fruit and toffee but it’s tough to find under the barrel character. There is also some stale, cardboard-like aromas coming through that puzzled me. The taste is just more whiskey - tons of vanilla, oak and bourbon, which leaves a big burn going down. I’m finding a hard time getting the underlying Hibernation - no chocolate or brown sugar sweetness to speak of. Maybe some dark fruits as it warms. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and very slick with a subtle, soft carbonation. It feels and burns almost like a whiskey. I’m a big fan of the regular Hibernation and, to me, this isn’t quite as good. It’s completely dominated by the barrel character, which overshadows the solid beer underneath. I’m hoping (and expecting) this one to age well and get better with a little time.

2009 bottle 291/492. The pour is similar with a somewhat clear, deep garnet color with an average, pillowy, frothy, yellowish-beige head which is somewhat lasting and leaves some drippy froth. The nose is amazing with the additional sweet notes from the oak complementing the malt richness and the oak wood notes supporting the hops; notes of sweet oak, rustic/piney hops, hints of dried apricot, toasted caramel, light spicy alcohol/whiskey warmth, lots of toffee, some molasses, and hints of almonds. The flavor is similar but seems to lose some of the malt richness towards the finish; fairly sweet and oaky to start with toffee, molasses, sweet oak, toasted caramel, light raisin, and roasted almonds but dries out with more than moderate bitterness and spicy whiskey notes. The palate is nice with a medium to full body, soft to lively carbonation, and a round, coating mouthfeel but the dryness is a bit much. Finishes with some toffee and toasted oak, whiskey, almost herbal, and lingering almond and pine. I did like this one in a collaboration between two organizations which I love, but some of what made the original so great great was lost in the flavor of this beer. The malt richness was drown out a bit by whiskey notes and the great bitterness from the hops seemed insignificant. I am beginning to dislike whiskey-aged beers more and more because the whiskey notes do not always meld well with the beer itself, and this is from a whiskey drinker. The original is so fantastic but this one is just good.

Pours a murky brown. Nose is big whiskey, sweet malts and fruit esters. Flavor is ripe fruits, raisin, bread, toffee, caramel, whisky and wood. Very nice.

Bottle… This beer rocks!… Murky, dark brown ale with little to no head. The aroma is a decadent swirl of coconut, caramel, and aged hops. Full-bodied and lightly creamy with fading carbonation. Sweet caramel, brown sugar and buttery toffee is balanced decently by alcohol and hop bitterness. Boozy, warming finish. So very nice!

750ml foiled cap from alagnak. Chocolate brown with a haziness to it, the head is very loose, ’swiss cheese’ like. Roasted nut, light cocoa, coffee, cherry wood, vanilla, toffee, raisins. Lightly carbonated creamy feel on the body, really quite nice. Sweet, soft chocolate prune maltiness, ashy coffee, cola. I am really impressed with how this beer has held up to th barrel. Not sure how the abv has jumped so much, but if it is in fact truly 11.1%, it is sneeky. Thanks Chris for sending this my way.

Bottle from bvc yeah ho! Fucking Tampa! Nose is of coffee, chocolate, floral earthy hops. Bourbon and wood are there but more subtle than many BB aged beers. A touch of alcohol shows up. Murky brown pour beige ring on top, light lace. Chocolate, roast, earth, pine. Bourbon is there and provides sweetness. Vanilla, caramel, brown sugar. Good body for ba beer. Sweet malty flavors linger. Chocolate. Wood and sweet barrel notes. This is solid. Like how the base beer held up to barrel. I enjoyed this.