Great Divide Samurai

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

Pale and dull golden yellow with a large frothy white crown. Aroma of sweet malts, grains, grassy hops and mild spicy hops. Taste of grains, rice, grassy hops and semi-toasted malt. Over carbonated with a yawner of a crisp finish.

Nothing special here, a big letdown from my favorite Colorado brewer. Not much better than the mass-produced Miller or Busch products and with a pronounced fermented rice finish, this just isn’t very pleasing. Fizzy and watery, there are some hints of a higher quality drink buried within. The head of tiny bubbles does a nice job of clinging. Something different, for sure...but I think I’ll go back to my usual styles!

From a 12oz bottle at the Flying Saucer - this ale poured a pale gold with a fluffy white head. Aroma of lemon citrus and yeast. Watery, light hop, lemon and grass taste - worked okay though as we were sitting outside and it was in the 90’s - so anything light and cold would have done the trick - not one I would drink regularly though.. just not enough substance to it.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Westover Market in Arlington, VA that a friend picked up, we drank it 5/30/09

Aroma: Sweet fruits, rice, and a little lemon
Appearance: Poured a hazy yellowish color into a beer mug
Flavor: Wasn’t a big fan, call it fruity sweet rice malts with some corn
Palate: Light, a little astringent
Overall Impression: I wasn’t a big fan, it just didn’t really taste so great. It grew on me a little, but still didn’t think it was so great. Maybe it just wasn’t my thing, my buddy I was drinking with seemed to like it a lot more then me...

This basically tastes like sake. It was neither fruity, crisp or refreshing. It was stinky, caustic, and tastes exactly like a two-dollar bottle of sake. No other way to describe it. Zeke’s Roadhouse, Miami Beach

12-oz. Thanks, Hopscotch! This is one of those ratings the disappeared on me; I remember rating it at the Beveridge Place a couple summers ago and coming home and entering rates that night. Whatever. Pours murky, slightly burnished light copper. Nice creamy platinum blonde head, good webby lacing. Big sweaty nose; not sure if it’s diacetyl, a rice by-product, or both. Creamy medium body with plenty of nice carb and then a big toasty blast of unsweetened rice krispies. Hard to explain the toasted rice flavor except to say that it’s not really something you expect from a beverage.

Cloudy straw color with minimal head. Mostly sweet taste, with a touch of rice. Basically, bland brew!

Yikes. Last bottle of a mixed 6 that I threw in since it was one of the GD’s I hadn’t had before and I only read the ’unfiltered’ part. Wish I’d left it on the shelf. Really sweet, off-putting, Rice-y aroma. Tastes like carbonated watered down Sake. Leaves with an unpleasant rice/corn aftertaste. Not a fan - probably true to the style, so points for that (and for me not reading the d**n bottle and realizing same), but not my thing.