A gay friend poses this riddle: "What is the difference between a straight man and a gay man? 3 beers." For me it is "What is the difference between a Belgian beer connaisseur and a hophead"? While I love the Belgians, their cloying sweetness and heavy texture weighs on me when I am trying to enjoy a 'session' on a hot summer day. By the time I get to my third beer I want something cleaner, brighter and a bit hoppy. No, no ... I'm not talking about one of those palate killing hop bombs, I am talking about a nice middle of the road IPA. That is exactly what we have here.
This beer uses the aggressive northwest hops which could be overpowering, but then they aged the beer 'on Oak' to mellow the brew and adds the vanilla accents. The color is a golden amber and poured with a decent head that quickly dissipated. The smell was predictable hoppy with a bit of sugar and vanilla undertones. Hops also were the predominant flavor but there was a fine balance of caramel sweetness, along with some citrus, pine and vanilla. Not a great beer but a pretty darn good one and worth seeking out. Do your seeking quickly as that this one is seasonal and will go away soon.
Great Divide Brewing Company
2201 Arapahoe Street
Denver, CO 80205
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