Indistinct light-bodied pale straw blonde ale plies sticky rice cake, glutinous wheat, and biscuit-y barley sweetness to depletive phenol hop fizz. Faint lemony grapefruit peel and black currant bittering lose out to green grape and green apple souring before soapy astringency debunks wobbly honeyed citric sedation.
Monthly Archives: January 2009
GREAT DIVIDE ST. BRIGID’S PORTER
Robust dry-bodied Irish-styled lactic porter gains enticing coffee bean roast above black chocolate bittering. Fizzy hop char dulls char-coaled walnut coarsing, soured raisin-plum undertones, and lilting burgundy tease. Rich mocha malting permeates bittersweet mocha-chalked finish.
GREAT DIVIDE RIDGE LINE AMBER ALE
Unbound copper-toned medium-bodied Scottish ale frustratingly wobbles. Peculiarly funky raw-honeyed glutinous wheat souring displaces preferred maple-sugared caramel malting abating mildly embittered lemony peach-tangerine tang and acrid chestnut-walnut roast. Harshly metallic, dankly vegetal finish cloaks nutty respite and herbaceous hint.
GREAT DIVIDE OLD RUFFIAN BARLEY WINE
Emboldened rust-brown-clouded barleywine nestles chewy brown-sugared caramel-chocolate malting beside black cherry-pureed candied apple glaze and sharp citric tang, retaining emphatic bite. Cedar-chipped almond toasting and terse hazelnut niche calm down surging pine-hopped aggression. Rounded floral bouquet tempts dry bourbon finish, retaining strong bite. On tap at Ambulance, creamy brown chocolate sweetness gained pronounced black cherry, fig, prune and orange notions. Powerful ruffian never fails to delight.
GREAT DIVIDE OAK AGED YETI IMPERIAL STOUT
Terrifically robust mahogany dry stout opens with dark-roasted black chocolate insistence firmly underscored by oak-singed black molasses, roasted coffee, espresso, dried cocoa, ashen walnut, pecan and hazelnut. Cedar-burnt hop bittering heightens residual sour raspberry, vinous white grape, pureed black cherry and emerging bourbon theme thickening to coarse tar-like tobacco chew finish. Creamy vanilla fudge reminder scours earthy bottom.
GREAT DIVIDE MAVERICK INDIA PALE ALE (2003 SERIES)
Hazy orange-yellow glow suits highly hop-embittered citric ale calming to mildly spiced lemon-peeled grapefruit rind souring. Piney bottom develops legs but astringent finish may be off-putting to amateurs.
GREAT DIVIDE MAVERICK IMPERIAL STOUT
Gritty ebony dry body greets rigid dark chocolate entry with espresso-milked coffee bean souring. Prune-stewed black cherry undertones infiltrate piney-hopped burnt cedar spell and charcoal-lined nutty bottom to abrupt maple molasses finish.
GREAT DIVIDE MAVERICK FRESH HOP PALE ALE (2003 SERIES)
Floral-hopped copper-toned meringue-headed bitter retains creamy flow, spry spruce sweetness, slight citric sourness, and mild tea daub as harvest wheat earthiness picks up grassy remnant. Compares favorably to Stone Anniversary Ales.
GREAT DIVIDE HIBERNATION ALE
Bright orange-cherry-peach entry of heady traditional full-bodied English-styled winter ale gathers reliable nut-grain confluence and barley-hopped chocolate roast to honeyed wheat bottom. Fresh grass-hay-moss earthiness boosts sharp spicy fruitiness before fig-date souring influences burnt cedar finish.
GREAT DIVIDE HERCULES DOUBLE INDIA PALE ALE
Engaging rocky headed rust amber I.P.A. counters tranquil chocolate malt nosing and sweet caramel mouthfeel with jaunty bitter hop spicing. Spruce and pine outline unwavering sticky mocha malt seduction to perfection.
GREAT DIVIDE HADES ALE
Likable moderate-bodied yellow-hazed pale ale (with unobtrusive 7.3% alcohol) plies candi-sugared Belgian yeast sweetness to white-peppered clove-coriander-saffron spicing as well as curacao orange, white grape, apricot, and mango tartness for summery Saison-like sensation. Banana bubblegum illusions emerge as polite lemon pith bittering heightens dry citric finish.
GREAT DIVIDE FRESH HOP PALE ALE
Laudable clear amber medium-bodied ‘hophead’ fave updated from initial ‘Maverick’ version listed below. Dry pine needled green hop prickle given lemony grapefruit, orange peel, and juniper bitterness contrasting luscious spruce-sapped peach-nectarine sweetness to biscuit-y wheat bottom. Spicy floral-herbal tinge envelops tertiary fresh-cut grass, resinous hemp, and moldy wood remnants.