Great Divide Brewing Company
Microbrewery
in Denver,
Colorado,
United States 🇺🇸
Owned by
Wilding Brands
Associated with 4 Venues
Established in 1994
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Absolutely tar-black beer; huge, slightly irregular moccha-brown head. Great (green)grapey-hoppy nose, charcoal, chopped wood, moss, fruity-yeasty, wet straw. Bitter, a tad harsh flavour, both from a shockwave of hops, but also from roasted malts/grains. Fruity flavours as from grapes, lytchee or other exotic fruit. Full bodied, slick, filling. Good "Imperial" stout, very fruity thanks to judicious use of hops, but not really outstanding.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2004 bottle. Pours a bright amber-red color with a creamy and lasting yellow flecked off-white head. Aroma is full of citrus, pine and tons of caramel and honey. Flavor is bitter but yet balanced well. Hops do not kill, they just injure you. But the body is full, with plenty of malt backbone. Finishes very citrusy, with light spice from the hops. I want to get excited about another well-made beer from Great Divide, but there is something I just can’t seem to get passed about this brewery. Most of their big beers, and the lower gravity ones I’ve had, are all tremendously well-made but they seem to lack any real house character. The Great Divide Imperial Stout is about as close to the Generic American Imperial Stout as I can think. This one is another perfectly by-the-book creation. And that is certainly wonderful, but I need something more to get excited about. Or could it be that great divide seems to hop on the bandwagon a little too late, after I’m already bored with the style? I’d like to think I can be more objective than that, but who knows.
Draught. 2005 and onwards
Still hoppy and assertive but these first bottles were startingly dry and clean, with less yeastiness than I remember. It’s like they didnt change their yeast enough on subsequent batches (I cant back that up, that’s pretty irresponsible criticism). But regardless, it just seems a little bit sourish, and with too much toasted malt apparency on draught. Lots of flavor and aroma hops, but tons of acidity and fatigue as well. Current score is an average of my sentiments between bottle and draught.
jgb9348 (11734) reviewed Bee Sting Ale from Great Divide Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 3.5
Nice honey coloured body with an orange glow and a thinnish off-white head. Better looking than I had expected. Aroma of honey (no surprise), apricots, peaches, malt and some sugars. Light-bodied; Very vegetable taste with some sweetness and more malty unpleasantness. Aftertaste still kicks with alcohol and vegetables. Overall, a pretty bad beer (as I had expected), but still worth a try. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine in McLean, Virginia on 19-December-2004.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
2003 Batch (Sampled under Maverick name):
Pitch black in colour, completely opaque with a nice thin light brown head. A nice look to a good old bottle. Aroma of cherries, strong coffee and bitter choclate (~70% cacao). Full-bodied; Strong roasted malt presence in the taste with a good chocolate and coffee taste following behind. The aftertaste shows a lot of the cherry character and some pit fruits, but it is more tart than I’d expect from an Imperial Stout. Overall, a nice beer, not as great for the style as i’ve tasted, but worth a try! I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Chevy Chase Wine & Liquors in Washington, D.C. on Thanksgiving Thursday, 25-November-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Dark brown coloured body almost completely opaque with a large dense tan head...very nice! Aroma of roasted malt, nuts, raisins, light coffee and a tiny bit of milk chocolate (~40% cacao). Medium-bodied; Strong nuttiness up front following with malt and a strong coffee presence. Aftertaste shows some bitter malt and a strong nuttiness lingering. Overall, I saw this more of a ’nut’ brown ale rather than a porter, but to all their own. I sampled this 12 ounce bottle purchased from Norm’s in Vienna, Virginia on Thanksgiving Thursday 25-November-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Deep black stout, thick and molassy. Nice hops and chocolate aroma. intense hops and rich chocolate, sweet malts. Alcohol burn, but rich bodied. (July 31 at Indiana Microbrewers Festival)
Lubiere (24390) reviewed Bee Sting Ale from Great Divide Brewing Company 21 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4
Light golden ale with a light honey aroma, and cloves. Hoped up honey ale, cardboardy and oxidized. Medium bodied. (July 31 at Indiana Microbrewers Festival)
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Deep dark reddish ale with a light raisiny malt aroma. Sweet raisins and vanilla , slight acidity, and sharp hops. Nuts in final. Lighter bodied than expected but still good. Thanks to Argo via Capflu. (Sept. 2004)
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Pour is a nice black. Aroma hits you full on with chocolate malts. Flavor is like a chocolate bar in your mouth. Very sweet and chewy. A nice try with this style.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Slightly hazy light copper body, thin off-white head. Fairly musty caramely/bready aroma with a hint of grassy hops. Nice caramely/fruity malt notes hit the palate immediately and fade to toast and hints of cheerios, finishing with bitter grassy hops and toast. Strong carbonation. Could be a bit denser but this isn’t a bad beer (disclaimer: I enjoy amber ales).
Brewery Stats
| Score | 6.89 |
| Beers | 234 |
| Ticks | 5220 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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notalush | 85 |
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Dogbrick | 53 |
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Anders37 | 53 |
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obguthr | 51 |
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Gyllenbock | 47 |
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djd07 | 43 |