Great Divide Belgica

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

12-oz. Pours a crystal clear medium gold with a loose, lightly sudsy whitish head. Big bubble gum nose--maybe a little bit of watermelon there, but not much else. Lightish, wateryish body. Decent carb. The bubble gum, as with the nose, is really too prevalent here. Mixes in with some caramel notes on the mid-palate and some american hops to create a weird metallic sourness. Not real pleasant, though the flaws seem recipe-based, rather than production-based.

Sulphurous, lemon, cream of wheat, golden ale aroma -- somewhat stinky. Mostly clear, golden brew with a pancake head. Really good label. OK cap, standard US longneck. GAAAAACK! Astringent, unripe nuts and cereal flavor, slightly over-bittered. Jeez, I don’t know what the heck they were thinking about with this one. It ain’t a belgian, it’s a nasty. Dry, cabbage-water flavors. Medium-light body. Nasty, nasty hobbitses. Glad I just plucked one from the six at MSL. This is a troubling experiment.

I don’t quite know what to say about this brew: light golden pour, bright hops, orange, lemon, and coriander with a grassy green bite. A little watery or “light” but this could also be attributed to the Belgian subtleties, a smoothness I mean. Reminds me of a weak hefeweizen, but I’m conflicted. I might need to have it again a time or two to really form a solid opinion.

I really like this new BIPA style. Citrusy nose, unpretentious flavoring, not much of the IPA as much as a crisp hoppiness accenting a Belgian ale (i.e., the Belgian part here is more pronounced, with a non-style-specific hoppiness thrown in). Goes down very crisp. Drinkable as hell; I finished this off in just a few minutes.

Pours pale golden, transparent, with generous white head. Nose is surprisingly good with an overripe honeydew melon citrus, perhaps canteloupe. Palate is somewhat sharp with citrus hop bite followed by a slight metallic twang. Faint malt in the background.

Very nice looker - tall straw body with light haze. and a moderate white head. Very spicy and estery - clove and citrus are heavy handed with light banana note. Interesting.

Pours a clear light gold color with no head. Aroma is spicy, almost like deviled eggs and vinegar. Taste is pilsner-like; grass, citrus, and spice. There’s a funkiness to this beer that I can’t identify. Dry finish. Drinkable, but not totally enjoyable.

a crystal clear rich straw yellow colored pour sits below a soft almost frothy brilliant white head. a really earthy nearly pungent yeast aroma dominates... it almost smells like washed rind cheese... with pale malt sweetness, orange, grass, florals and some dusty spiciness. the palate is a touch too sweet up front but makes up for it with a very dry somewhat bitter finish. there is a bunch of that stank yeastiness taking over the flavor as well... lemon, straw, spice/pepper and some floral notes. pine shows up as it warms and contributes a bittered lingering aftertaste. the medium body feels a little on the rich side yet it is dry and hoppy.

any beer that states it pairs well with epoisses and can deliver is fine by me! 7/3/7/4/14/3.5