Great Divide - Belgian Style Yeti

Alright Great Divide, step away from your brew kettle and come over to the corner here with me.  We need to have a chat... People love your Yeti stout, we get it.  Its creamy, smooth, full of flavor and easy to drink.  In fact, we even reviewed it and thought it was great!  But here is where you and I are at a bit of an impasse.  You have taken this Yeti and made, last time I counted, at least 751 different iterations of a brew that does fine as a stand alone stout.  How is one supposed to keep track of all the flavors???  Its like trying to keep track of the different flavors of Jelly Belly's - IT CANT BE DONE!!!  But here I am, crawling back like an addict.  What's next Great Divide... a blueberry infused, whiskey barrel aged Yeti with vanilla bean extract???  (Side note - please don't do this... I was just joking around... I beg you!)

I had always thought the yeti is a mythical creature - a cryptid if you will.  And yet, I have found three species of the yeti in the last few months!  My most recent blurry photo of this beast is of Belgian origin.  Great Divides Belgian style Yeti is created by adding a Belgian yeast strain to the Yeti base brew at fermentation.  Simple enough, right?  Well, as is with almost all Belgian yeast strains, the yeast is where a majority of the flavor comes from.  Spicy, clove, and banana are all flavors you can find in Belgian style brews.  Lets see if these flavors are imparted on this Yeti beast.

This Belgian Yeti is dark and thick.  Light has no chance at breaking through.  A soft, milk chocolate colored foam hangs around the edges of my mug.  The smells are very unique.  You get the chocolaty and roasty from the stout intertwined with that distinct Belgian spice.  I like it!  The flavors are bold, and there are plenty of them to go around.  The base Yeti is full of roasty, coffee and bittersweet chocolate essence.  Then, as the base Yeti lingers, the Belgian spices come through with some black peppercorn, clove, and candied fruit.  Some molasses sweetness starts to become noticeable as this Belgian beast warms.  The 9.6% ABV is hardly a factor.  If anything, its there to make sure the overall flavor is not too sweet.

Overall - Of the three Yeti's I've experience since writing these reviews I'm going to say I like this Belgian style Yeti the best.  This is a huge beer packed full of flavor.  There is a lot going on here.  Roasty, spicy, chocolaty, coffee-ee... its the epitome of a bold RIS.  And yet, its not too sweet either!  I had originally said I liked the espresso oak aged Yeti the best because the additional flavors toned down the sweetness of the base Yeti.  This Belgian style does the same and adds another dimension of flavor.  Give this species a try!

Great Divide - Yeti

This evenings review is in regards to Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout.  I just picked up this bomber a few days ago when I was looking for a barley wine.  Great Divides Old Ruffian was the brew I was seeking but I noticed this delightful character cozied up right next to it.  I couldn't leave Yeti behind... it would have been without its beer partner.  And thats just not acceptable, damnet!

Yeti pours a viscous, thick used motor oil black.  When I reviewed Victory's Storm King a few days ago I said that was black... well this one just dethroned Storm King as the blackest in the bunch.  A sturdy dark brown head forms and refuses to dissipate back into the abyss from which it came.  The aromas, while mild, were easily detectable.  Chocolate, fresh coffee and a little roastiness pulls through to support the chocolate.  Sipping this...... I just killed a mosquito!  Wtf!  Its the middle of friggen February in Minnesota and I'm sitting here killing mosquitos???  This state is ridiculous.  Sorry, I had to get that out of my system.  Back to beer... sipping this provides the textured I would expect from an RIS.  Nice and thick, creamy and smooth with enough carbonation to keep it from cloying to your tongue.  The chocolate is the front runner in this brew with some roasty and coffee hints to support the chocolate, just like the aroma.  This one isn't too complex with this flavors either.  Although I do notice a slight metallic taste/sensation right as it hits my tongue.  However, this disappears almost as quickly as it arrived.  Pretty straight forward and easy to drink.

Overall 4.9/6.0 - While being an easily enjoyable example of a RIS I found the chocolaty character of the beer to be a little too prominent for my liking.  Great Divide did a wonderful job brewing this beer.  The alcohol was never a factor other than the warmth on the way down.  I did notice that this was bottled back on January 12th, 2010 meaning that its had a year to age before it reached my glass.  I almost think I would like this better if it were fresher.  Generally you want your big beers to age.  But, if you don't like a lot of chocolate in your beer, I would recommend drinking this one right away.  It may be a bit more balanced to the roasty side rather than the chocolaty side.