Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Finally found this in bottles at Box Bar in Plymouth. 2003 bottle. Pours a drab brown, very muddy with some slightly lighter yellow tinges around the edges. Big dark yellow head. Bottle conditioned. Aroma was so good, I couldnt even wait until the beer warmed before trying it. Smells of spices, but mainly from hops and yeast, with some lighter sweet malts. Flavor is big with some cherry and other ripe fruit flavors, english style yeast and hops. Woody oak flavors meet crisp hops and plenty of nice english toffee and light chocolate. Very complex, approaching the grandeur of the Fullers Vintage line. Only setback was a slightly acidic astringency on the finish which seems to be found in most of these American ESAs. However, here it is much less apparent. Body is slightly less full and flavors are not as deep as Fullers Vintage Ales, but the fact that this beer actually comes close is impressive.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
2003 bottle. Pours the most dark, oily yet lusterous black. Opaque. Moderate amount of deep burnt beige-brown head. Smells heavenly, oily, roasty, syruppy hops, dark chocolate. Opens up very smooth, even, moderately acidic, low carbonation. Full body, less so than say Speedway and even Stone, but still up there. Reminds me of Arcadia Imperial, slightly, not as much coffee, but lots of bittering hops against a pleasantly syruppy roasted malt. Flavors meld very well together, great balance. I can’t honestly find a bad thing to say about this beer. I like the relatively less alcohol too. Not the most complex example, but again, still up there. Could be more exciting on the mouth, flavors are solid but redundant.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottled. Extremely black with dark brown. Licorice aroma. Very sweet, intensely malty. A lot of grapefruity hops. Some coffee and an aromatic bitter finish. Full bodied and packed with flavour, I would still make it less sweet. Many thanks to hopsrus for sending this and many other great beers!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
A solid porter by the folks at Great Divide. Dark brown appearance, thin tan head. Nice roasted aroma. Flavor is roasted chocolate and coffee, with a sweet aftertaste and rich mouthfeel. Neither too thin nor too thick. A great session porter, clean and tasty.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
(draught) Great deep-red, nearly purple colour; little pinkish head. Raspberry jam nose, quite concentrated but not overpowering. Taste of raspberries and (pale) malts - as raspberry jam on white bread. Sweet in the finish but not sticky or cloying. Medium bodied. Good, interesting but not really great.
Sloefmans (15389) reviewed Titan IPA from Great Divide Brewing Company 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
(draught) Light-amber; slight, dense-like yellowish head, good lace. Very American-type hopsnose (citrussy and piney). Bitter, but foremost very hoppy, with obligatory pine and citrus notes, but verging on to the flat-metallic. Finish is pure hop-oil. Slightly oily mouthfeel, slick. Harsh aftertaste. It starts OK, but the finish discloses the the real state of things: unrefined, hidden under hops.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 3
Clear light amber colour with a very thin white head. Smells of citrusey hops and subtle malt dominate the smell. Very watery tasting leaving a bit of malt background with a touch of hops. About 30 seconds into the taste leaves even less of a flavour with a bit of malt to show for the beer. The colour suggested a not-so-great beer, but the smell made me re-think that conjecture. Finally, the taste made me really believe that this wasn't a good beer. The aftertate was as short and as subtle as can be, and had basically no 'good' characteristics. Overall, not a great beer for this style or any other for that matter. I bought it at a Denver supermarket, and the beer was classfied as having under a 3.2% Alcohol by weight, which is a must for a Colorado store (non liqour-oriented) evidently. This could have been part of the problem, but it was very disapointing. If you are out here for a short trip, definately skip this one and move to better ones from the area! I bought this 12 ounce bottle at Safeway in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
jgb9348 (11828) reviewed Titan IPA from Great Divide Brewing Company 22 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
2004 Series v2.0
Hazy amber coloured body with orange highlights and a thinnish off-white head. Aroma of pure grapefruit and piney hops, some fruity sweetness and some slight nuttiness. Medium to Full-bodied; Spicey hop flavour up front with some sugars and a nice malt backbone. Piney & hop aftertaste with a long, drawn out bitterness that shows orange sweetness at the very end. Overall, a well crafted beer that deserves a lot of respect! Great to try & nice to have here as my first beer out on the shore this weekend. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased at Whole Foods in Clarendon (Arlington), Virginia on 08-October-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia with my good friend Jon[R888710]. Rating for this sample: 8,3,8,4,16 2003 Series v1.0
Orange/golden colour with a nice dense slightly yellow-white head. Piney hops in the aroma with a slight citrus twang, but still very nice! The taste is medium-bodied, full of hops, and present of citrus, such as grapefruit and lemon. The palate is filled with hop-bitterness and that’s about it! Overall a better than average IPA that should be tried if available! Evidently this is a limited run beer, so i’m glad I was out here and was available to try it! I bought this 22 ounce bottle from Total Beverage in Thornton (Denver), Colorado. Rating for this sample: 9,4,8,4,16
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Bottled. Near black with beige head. Roasty, dryish and clean. Soft mouthfeel making it nicely drinkable. Very balanced with medium bitterness.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Dark amber/brown with a very thick light tan head. Aroma is toasty and malty. Somewhat rich body, it started out strong with roasted malt and sticky sweet caramel and gradually phased into a more bitter hops and grapefuit presence. Good warmer to start but becomes almost too bitter by the end. Still the best from Great Divide I have tried so far.