Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

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

Serve in Snifter

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March 2009 Bottle Date; Sampled May 2009
A solid, but not aggressive pour, sneaks up on me and fills my 25cl tulip glass with three fingers of foam as well as overflowing a bit. The head is a full brown hue that is as dark as I can remember seeing in a long time. The beer is pitch black in color, though it does pass a hint of light around the edges if I really hunt for it (the hue is amber leaning, though it is still pretty opaque). The aroma has a sharp, acrid espresso character to it that is quite noticeable from the get go. The beer is a bit cold so in the microwave it goes for 15 seconds to make it cool. The warming smoothes out the acrid notes a bit, but they still play the dominant role here. Some aromas that do become noticeable though are a charred, blueberry-like, fruitiness, some notes of charcoal, a touch of sweet dark malt, charred tobacco, a toasted brown malt / biscuit maltiness and a touch of chocolate at times. The aroma is a bit simplistic in its overwhelming charred (both espresso and malt) character, though it is not bad.

The beer feels smooth and creamy as it first hits my tongue; it is not overly thick and seems a bit light compared to some heavy Imperial Stouts. Dark chocolate flavors are noticed along with an up front sweetness. Chewy, toasted and burnt whole-grain flavors are here along with a bread / cracker like middle. The finish has a burnt, lingering, roasted bitterness to it; there is also a huge hop bitterness here though, but I don’t notice the ample hop flavor presence that is in the regular Yeti. The flavor is somewhat acrid, with a touch of roast derived acidity, but it is quite a bit smoother than the aroma would have suggested. As the beer warms and my palate gets used to it, the beer picks up a lot more roasted fruitiness; notes of burnt prunes, figs and perhaps a touch of raisin are noticeable. It also picks up a touch of dark / roast grain burnt vegetal character at times in the finish, though this is pretty light. The fruit notes are accentuated by the hoppiness and the vegetal note is enhanced by the herbal hop notes. This has a nice, complex sweetness from the dark malt. Some spicy oak accentuates the acrid notes a bit as well as adding a touch of hotness to the finish. The oak is fairly muted overall though.

I definitely like the regular Yeti better as the espresso just makes this a bit too harsh. It is not a bad beer though and I find myself even enjoying it.

UPDATED: MAY 31, 2012 Bomber courtesy of Jonas (non-RB). Pours pitch black with a frothy and creamy dark chocolate brown head that slowly dissipates without leaving much trace. Smell is sweet and very tiny sour with roasted malts, wood, salty liquorice, coffee, bitter chocolate, vanilla, alcohol, burnt caramel and hints of smoke and dark bread. Taste is sweet and bitter with burnt wood, roasted malts, bitter chocolate, burnt caramel, dark roast quality coffee, smoke, sweet dark bread, dark honey, vanilla and toffee. Mouthfeel is smooth, round, tiny boozy and full bodied. Finish is tiny sweet and bitter with roasted malts, bitter chocolate, coffee, tobacco and wood.

I find this one a little harder to drink than some of the other yeti’s but it is still a marvelous and sexy beer. Extra big coffee added to the complexity of this one that kind of kills it for me. Like i said though still awesome.

Das Yeti ist richtig Schwarz, schwärzer gehts kaum, die Schaumkrone ist bräunlich. Es riecht so sehr kräftig Intensiv nach Kaffee und röstig, das die Vorfreude sofort extrem groß ist. Der Geschmack übertrumpft dies in Sachen Intensive aber nochmal und auch fast alles andere bierige was ich bisher kennengelernt habe, es schmeckt stark röstmalzig, durch den Alkoholgeschmack verwandeln sich einfache aber starke Aromen in leckere Kaffe-, Espressoaromen um. Trotz dieser Intensive, die auf die Süffigkeit nur ein kleinen negativen Einfluss nimmt, ist das Bier sehr gut abgewogen und alle Aromen passen sich einander an. Auf der Website der Brauerei steht ausserdem, das man dieses Bier zum Frühstück trinken kann, ja Espresso trinkern wird es bestimmt gefallen, nur Vorsicht es hat ganze 9,5% Alkohol! Fazit: Ein Imperial Stout bei dem ich mir nicht ganz sicher bin ob es die große Braukunst ist, oder einfach nur intensiv ist, ich finde es allerdings sehr gut gelungen! Test vom 28.8.2010, Gebinde: Fass Noten: 13,13,11,13,-,13 - 12,68

Pour is a jet black with a small tan head. Aroma is coffee, dark chocolate and alcohol. Flavor is a heavy dose of coffee, chocolate and some vanilla from the oak. I don’t get much of a hop only because the coffee overpowers but the alcohol goes away in the flavor. Leaves a nice roasted/char malt on the tounge. I don’t know about trying this with breakfast like the bottle said but this is good enough to try on its own

Tap. Pour is pure black with a thin brown head. Aroma is loaded with roasted malt, light dark chocolate, faint coffee notes, and a touch of caramel. Flavor is loaded with roasted malt. Also light coffee and light chocolate. Really dominated my the roasted malt notes. solid, but a bit one dimensional.

22oz bomber, bottled 12/2011 poured into a tulip glass. Black as night with a small tan head. Good retention. Nose is chocolate malt, cocoa, nutty, a little bit of espresso. Very thick body. Taste like alcoholic chocolate milk. A slight bitter finish rounds it out. It’s good...but definitely a dessert sipper. The chocolate really stands out, I guess you could down one of these for breakfast!

What a relaxing stout. The aroma is spot on to what’s inside. It’s slightly sweeter than its relative the oak aged non espresso stout.

Bottle. Pours a pitch black color with a tan head. Aroma is filled with espresso coffee notes, some roasted malt, dark chocolate and a little bit of milk chocolate, almost like nesquick, dark fruits, subtle oak notes and vanilla. The flavor follows the nose and has a ton of dark roast coffee and espresso coffee, roasted malts, dark and milk chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and subtle oak and some dark fruits. The body is full with a creamy mouth feel. Overall a phenomenal Imperial Stout!

Black, minimal head. Large coffee aroma and taste. Slight oak flavor. Alcohol well hidden.

Aroma is overwhelmingly coffee. Pours jet black with a nice frothy brown head. Taste is coffee, vanilla, roasted malts, and chocolate. A little bit of alcohol warmth at the end. Very good.