Jul

12

YETI Imperial Stout

By Andy Murphy

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I’ve been drinking exactly one beer a day, without repeats, for over six months now. Though it’s hard for me to believe this year-long challenge is already halfway to completion, it’s even harder to believe there are still so many great breweries I haven’t yet had time to explore.

Great Divide Brewing Co. of Denver, CO was rated 7th on the BeerAdvocate list of “All-Time Top Breweries on Planet Earth”, but I’ve only begun to discover their beer selection. Great Divide created the very tasty Hercules Double India Pale Ale which I drank on June 29th — but that has been my only Great Divide beer all year long. To remedy the oversight, I’ve stocked up on several Great Divide brews, the first of which I cracked open on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

Yeti is Great Divide’s “untamed, imposing” Imperial Stout. They have seasonal variations of Yeti — Oak Aged, Espresso Oak Aged, and Chocolate Oak Aged — which, based on the descriptions found on the Great Divide website, sound absolutely delicious; however, as with so many things in life, it seemed prudent to start at the very beginning with the original YETI Imperial Stout.

YETI Imperial Stout splashed from its bottle into my hefty pint glass looking oily and heavy, its pour throwing errant drops that smudged pockmarks across my white table. The dense, mocha foam that erupted in the pint glass created a cascading effect akin to a rocket’s thrusters, threatening to launch much of the beer right out of the glass — as if it were late for a date with the drops already pooling on the table. As the foam settled, it became clear this beer is as dark as a stout can possibly be, pitch black except for the narrow crema left ringing the glass.

Some say that, when surprised in the wild, this beer’s namesake smells like “dirty diapers” — but “chocolate” is as close as the YETI Imperial Stout comes to that. In fact, it’s a delicious and natural-smelling chocolate, with the pungent smell of alcohol noticeably missing for a beer with 9.5% ABV. There’s also a hoppy, bitter smell lurking quietly around the edges.

The label declares that YETI Imperial Stout is:

. . . an onslaught of the senses. It start with a big, roasty malt flavor that gives way to rich caramel and toffee notes. YETI gets its bold hop character form an enormous quantity of American hops. It weights in at a hefty 75 IUBs.

The roasted malts smack you with a delicious combination of chocolate and caramel malt flavor, with more than a hint of espresso taste. There is indeed a “toffee” quality, but it is barely noticeable, mostly in the finish as the caramel melds with the roasted chocolate malt. Throughout it all, the hops are clear and present, providing a pleasantly bitter balance that offsets what might otherwise be a cloying malt — the beer is strong, smooth, and so extremely well-balanced!

This is not a sweet stout loaded with creamy oatmeal or syrupy malt. It’s a full-bodied, richly dark stout with just enough bittersweet roasted malt and flavorful hops to finish cleanly, satisfy, and encourage another sip.

Great Divide’s YETI is so very enticing that I feel the urge to pick up their Oak Aged, Espresso Oak Aged, and Chocolate Oak Aged variations. Don’t be surprised if they show up during the ensuing months!

Related posts:

1. Bourbon Barrel Stout
2. The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout
3. Highland Brewing Oatmeal Porter
4. Bad Penny Brown Ale

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Categories : Beer a Day