Great Divide Titan IPA

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle, unsure of bottling date, but it is in 2010. Pours crystal clear orange amber color with a dense 2 finger off white head with amazing retention, that reduces to a lacing cap. Nice lacing on the glass. Aromas of orange, mango, pine, caramel, and a bit of grapefruit. Decent aroma strength, improves as it warms up. Taste of fairly strong grapefruit, orange, and pine; with some caramel in the background. Sweet tastes on the front that lead to a fairly strong bitterness on the finish that lingers for a bit with citrus and pine flavors. Very smooth drinkability for it’s alcohol level. No alcohol noticed other than a very small warming after the finish. Very nice balance of sweetness and bitterness in this as well. Medium carbonation and body. Overall a very good IPA, tasty stuff.

Another delicious offering from Great Divide.

Stone Lukcy Basartd Ale

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip. Pours dark red color with a dense 2 finger off white head with fantastic retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that stays for the rest of the glass. Decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of strong caramel, grapefruit, orange, pine, and a bit of oak. Very prominent aromas. Taste of strong caramel, grapefruit, orange, and toast; with a bit of pine, oak, and lemon. A very strong bitterness on the finish that lingers with grapefruit, orange, and pine flavors. Medium carbonation and full bodied. Very smooth and drinkable for being 8.5%. No alcohol noticed except for a small warming after the finish. Fantastic balance of sweetness and bitterness. Overall this is definitely the best Bastard variation I have had. So tasty and smooth. I hope they make it again.

This is by far the best Bastard variation out of the bunch. I really hope they make another batch of this sometime. Incredible.

Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown color with a fairly dense 2 finger light tan head with great retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts for a majority of the glass. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malt, wheat, oats, and a bit of cola and smoke. Some fairly strong aromas here. Taste of strong chocolate, oatmeal, roasted malt, coffee, and some caramel; with a very nice bitterness on the finish that adds a bit of a cola and citrus flavors that linger for a bit. Medium bodied and fairly high carbonation. A fairly creamy body that drinks very smoothly and easily. A little to much carbonation in my opinion, but it is still great on mouthfeel. Overall, an extremely enjoyable oatmeal stout with a ton of flavor and easy drink ability. I would definitely have it again.

For my first Anderson Valley brew, I am quite impressed. Maybe even the best normal gravity oatmeal stout I have had as well. Great stuff.

Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled Dec 10, 2010. Pours opaque black color with a very dense 2 finger tan head with incredible retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap that lasts. Fairly thick lacing on the glass. Aromas of extremely strong coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, oak, molasses, and a bit of vanilla and alcohol presence. Taste of strong coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt, and a bit of vanilla and molasses on the front; that leads to a fairly strong bitterness on the finish that lingers for a bit with roasted coffee and chocolate flavors. Roasted coffee and chocolate flavors linger on the palate for a good period of time. The oak also has a strong presence on the finish, a little to much in my opinion but it doesn’t throw off the beer that much. Medium carbonation and full bodied. Extremely creamy, slick, and smooth mouthfeel. No alcohol noticed in the taste but there is a fairly strong warming after the finish. Overall this is fantastic stuff, and I would definitely like to see what this turns out to be with a couple years on it.

Another great Imperial Stout from Great Divide. I still like the original Yeti more than this, but the Yeti I had could have been aged quite a bit as well(did not check the bottle date on it). This one was pretty darn fresh, but I would love to see what age does to it as well.

Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie

Here is another one I haven't had in a while. This is part of the bunch that got released last year. Boston cream pie ice cream with yellow cake pieces, fudge flakes, and swirls of pastry cream. First off, the ice cream texture is great, and the ice cream itself also has a very strong flavor. Very good to use as the base. There are plenty of cake pieces in the mix. Almost makes it difficult to dig into the pint. Lots of good cream pie flavor in them, that pretty much matches the ice cream base flavor. Good texture of the cake pieces as well, nice and chewy. There is also plenty of pastry cream in the pint, mixed throughout. It has a nice and viscous texture to it, and a lot of flavor. The fudge flakes are few and far between, but the rest of the mix ins make up for that pretty well. This has a great mixture of flavors that go very well together. Overall, it did not blow me away, but it was a very enjoyable flavor.

9/10

Dark Horse One Oatmeal Stout

3.9/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours very dark brown color with a 2 finger fairly dense dark tan head with very good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts for most of the glass. Minimal lacing on the glass. Aromas of strong chocolate, roasted malt, oats, caramel, and molasses; with a little bit of vanilla and alcohol. Some pretty nice aromas here with good strength. Taste of strong dark chocolate, oatmeal, and roasted malt on the front; with a bit of coffee, caramel, and molasses. Starts off sweet on the front with chocolate and oats and transitions to a decent bitterness on the finish that lingers for a bit with roasted coffee and chocolate flavors. Creamy and smooth mouthfeel with no alcohol noticed in taste, but a slight warming on the finish was noticed. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied. Some slight carbonation prickliness was noticed, but it doesn’t detract from the creamy mouthfeel that much. Overall a very good oatmeal stout!

I have yet to really be let down by Dark Horse. All around solid lineup it seems, can't wait to have even more offerings.

Avery duganA

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip. Pours slightly hazy light orange-amber color with a fairly dense 2 finger off white head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of insanely strong orange and grapefruit with pineapple; with light caramel and pine. Some very nice aromas here. Taste of strong grapefruit, pineapple, pine, and caramel with some spiciness. A fairly strong bitterness fades in on the finish and lingers with some sweet notes of orange and grapefruit. A great balance of sweetness and bitterness here, the sweetness is a tad bit stronger than the bitterness though. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Incredibly well hidden alcohol content, only a slight warming after the finish noticed. Super smooth drinking for 8.5% and fairly slick feel. Overall, an incredible Imperial IPA, so much great flavor and balance. I will be getting this again for sure!

Such an incredible Imperial IPA. Highly recommended!