Brewer: Great Divide Brewing Company
Location: Denver, Colorado
Type: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.5%

Bit of a change of plans this week, denizens. I did a little bit of extracurricular drinking this past weekend, and I discovered a couple of beers that I decided were “must mentions” here for Darktober. This, unfortunately, means that I am bumping a couple of others from my pre-planned path. It also means a bit of back-stepping in our eastward journey. You don’t mind, though…do you?

Very well then. Allons-y!

And back we go to Colorado. This time, we’re visiting Denver’s Great Divide Brewing Company for something very exciting: a bona fide Yeti sighting! Well…a sighting of Great Divide’s Yeti Imperial Stout.

Full disclosure: I had this beauty on tap, which means the only way I could have gotten a better experience with this one would be for me to travel to Denver and dive into one of the Yeti vats. I’ve no idea what this one is like from the bottle, but I can tell you this: If you love Imperial stouts, it is a MUST to try if you find it on tap.

From bistre depths rises a russet-tinged outline of froth, but nothing more. Yeti is still, quiet in its waiting. Inhale and receive a nose of malty, roasted, cocoa-covered decadence. You’ve found the chocolate factory, Charlie, and it’s hiding inside a brewery. Supremely indulgent mouth feel, like liquid velvet, and a miasma of flavor complexity that might very well threaten to short out your taste buds.

Yeti is a beautiful brew, denizens: heavy, thick, deeply fragrant, dangerously flavored, with hardly a tinge of alcohol in the taste whatsoever. This is how high ABV beers do it properly. That other mythical brew could take some notes from Great Divide’s mysterious mascot.

The Yeti line extends far beyond just this one Imperial stout. Great Divide also offers Yeti in Oak Aged, Chocolate Oak Aged, Espresso Oak Aged, and Barrel Aged. I have to tell you, all those sound amazing. Plus, knowing that they are built upon the astoundingly intense foundation of this Imperial stout, I can only imagine how breathtaking they must be. Here’s hoping I can have a few more Yeti spottings in my imminent future…