This month’s Session topic (hosted by Red, White, and Brew) is “Think/Drink Globally”:

I pose everyone writes about the farthest brewery (including brewpubs) you have visited and specifically the best beer you had there.

Well, it just so happens that we traveled out to Colorado this past October for the Great American Beer Festival. We managed to make it to seven different breweries in five days (in addition to two GABF sessions!). Colorado is the farthest I’ve traveled for beer as of yet, so I’ll go with Great Divide for this Session, since I was able to find a bottle at a local restaurant this week.

We were very excited to visit such a great brewery, and Great Divide did not disappoint. After a tour of the brewhouse, we enjoyed some samples in the Tap House — Denver Pale Ale, Titan IPA, Hercules Double IPA, Hibernation English Style Old Ale, and Fresh Hop Pale Ale, to name a few.

Great Divide makes some spectacular beers, but, as the name might suggest, none are quite as intriguing and mysterious as the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti. I was pleasantly surprised to see a bottle of it at a local restaurant in Norristown, PA. Here are my tasting notes!

Great Divide’s Espresso Oak Aged Yeti

Appearance: Black, opaque, with a creamy tan head, and just a tad of lacing.

Aroma: Sweet, roasty, chocolatey, malty, with a distinctive vanilla/oak character.

Mouthfeel: Very creamy and full bodied.

Flavor: Highly roasted with slight acidity and tannins. Notable chocolate flavor. Coffee flavor is very subtle and is perceived more as a roasted flavor. A slight vanilla/oak flavor, though most of the oak character comes through in the nose. The hop bitterness is aggressive but pleasantly balanced.

Overall impression: Rich, dense, and balanced. Even though it’s a whopping 9.5% ABV, I want to keep taking swigs! As it warms, the oak character becomes even more pronounced, and almost has a barleywine feel to it. Phenominal beer.

If you happen to come across a bottle of Great Divide’s Espresso Oak Aged Yeti, I highly recommend that you give it a try!

Now, this post was kinda based on a lie, because I actually went to Glacier BrewHouse in Anchorage, Alaska a couple years ago, which had a really excellent Scottish Ale aged in Jim Beam barrels. But, seeing as they don’t distribute, and I couldn’t easily find a Jim Beam barrel aged Scottish Ale, I picked Great Divide instead. So… don’t tell on me!