Great Divide 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA

Happy Birthday Great Divide Brewing

Summer must be craft beer birthday season.  Last week I reviewed the 13th Anniversary Ale from Stone Brewing, and this week I review the 15th Anniversary beer from Great Divide Brewing Company.  To celebrate 15 years of brewing, Great Divide made a special version of their Denver Pale Ale by aging it in French and American Oak.  The ABV is 10%:

Appearance: This beer poured with a nice creamy head, excellent lacing, and a dark caramel color with tinges of orange and red.  It looked great in the glass.

Smell: Oak is the primary aroma (expressed as sweet vanilla) along with a sweet wood and cinnamon/spice.  Some hops gets through as well.

Taste: If you like oak-aged beers, and the vanilla/slightly woody components that come with the style, you will like this beer.  There is enough malt to counter-act the bitterness.  The finish is dry with some hop bitterness coming through.  The only downside to the taste is that there is a small bit of harshness on the finish which I think would go away with some age.

Drinkability: This beer feels pretty good in the mouth and because of the 10% ABV, it is definitely a sipper.  Drinkability is good overall.

I liked this beer very much overall.  The beer looks fantastic in the glass.  It has a definite woody/vanilla component that comes through in both the smell and taste.  The smell and taste are also fairly complex with some malt sweetness to balance out the hops.   It is not a “bitter” IPA by any means although there is some slight bitterness on the aftertaste.   The beer is extremely fresh, less than 30 days old, and right now the beer is a little harsh on the finish. I think that it will improve a little with some age (maybe 6-12 months) and become a bit smoother.  I’ve enjoyed the beers I’ve had  so far from Great Divide.  I still have quite a few of their beers left to review and based on past experience I think I will like them.  Here’s to another 15 years of successful brewing, Great Divide!

Here’s the score:

1.  Appearance- 9 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 16 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 7 points (out of 10)

Total 40 (out of 50) Points-4 Mugs