‘Tis the season to raise a glass with friends and family, and to drink rich, roasty winter warmers. So, the other night we shared a bottle of Great Divide Brewing’s Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout that we have had aging in our beer cellar for just over a year. Overall, this beer was enjoyed by all and met my expectations for sipping a stout on a cold winter’s day.
The beer poured a deep, dark chocolate color with a dark bubbly head that dissipated after about three minutes. Serving temp was 58 degrees Fahrenheit. The nose provided prominent molasses – sweet and syrupy – and rich alcohol.
The first flavor in this beer is caramel followed by a dark roast coffee and a smokiness that had a slight tobacco quality to it. But not in a bad way. I’ve had porters and stouts with this quality that have been too much and turned me off. However, I found myself enjoying the smoky malt in this beer as it was complimented by the hints of tobacco from the oak barrels. These flavors really just come as an aftertaste and sit on the tongue like the flavor residue after smoking a cigar.
The hop on this beer is extremely mild given it carries 75 IBUs. Rather, the hefty hop profile merely steps up to provide the right balance to this beer. You aren’t overwhelmed by a lot of hop but you aren’t overwhelmed by too much malt, sweet, or alcohol either.
I would characterize this beer as medium-bodied. My husband noted he would have liked it to be slightly heavier, but I actually thought the body was perfect with everything else going on with the beer. It kept the beer from taking on a more syrupy quality with all the caramel malt.
Overall, this is a nice winter beer that is perfect after dinner while sitting by the fire. It’s a dessert, after dinner drink, and after dinner smoke all in one. The flavors in this beer linger nicely, so you will want to take your time sipping on this one all night. Or you could leave a bottle out for Santa and he will be sure to leave you something especially nice in your stocking!
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