Great Divide Yeti

The Stats
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 9.50%
Current Ratings...
- Beer Advocate: 4.21/5
- RateBeer: 4.09/5

I've been drinking a lot of barrel aged stouts lately and can't really recall the last time I sat down and had a standard, unflavored, non-barrel aged stout. So, why not go to an industry standard?

Pours jet black with not even a hint of dark brown or ruby red on the pour or the edges of the glass. I got less than a finger of head, but it is one of the darkest brown heads I've ever seen on a stout.

The aroma is very aggressive with the roasted malts. A strong black licorice and a subdued Hersey's syrup smell are on the back.

I know this is unflavored, but there is wave after wave of coffee and chocolate on this one. It starts with the coffee bitterness up front and at the middle the aforementioned Hershey's syrup comes in and gets you with some dark chocolate and even milk chocolate too. To my surprise, a decent hop bitterness is here as well.

At 9.50%, Yeti goes down too quick and too smooth. It has a velvety, mouth-coating feel, but it isn't sticky or tar-like considering it's abv and style. There's nothing off-putting on the final finish, but you do get some delicious coffee and chocolate.

As a non-flavored, non barrel aged stout, Yeti is among the best of the best. The malts really do an A+ job here of providing roasted coffee and chocolate. This is a big beer, but the drinkability is through the roof as I put my 12oz bottle away in minutes. I suggest grabbing a bomber and sipping on this for a few hours. You won't be disappointed.

Rating
9.1/10