Brewed By: Great Divide Brewing
Brewed In: Denver, CO
Type: Imperial Stout aged in oak chips with coffee
ABV: 9.5%

What they say: “[I]s a new addition to the Yeti clan. A generous infusion of espresso adds yet another layer of complexity to this beer, combining with the vanilla oak character, intense roasty maltiness and bold hop profile to create a whole new breed of mythical creature. It’s official: You can now have Yeti with breakfast. Enjoy with: Breakfast burrito, eggs Benedict, hash browns, cheesecake, crème brulee.”

Website: Great Divide’s site is pretty simple. On entering (no splash page), the logos of all of their beers flash animate into frame, and clicking on any of them brings up a short blurb about that beer. Clicking on the other headings (“About,” “Tap Room,” etc) just scrolls the site down to those sections. It needs work, but the clickable labels is really all you’d need on a first visit, no?

Why this one, Show? A while ago, I picked up a variety of Great Divide’s Yeti beers for a series I was going to title “BigShow vs. the Yetis.” This has turned into a two-part series now entitled “BigShow vs. the Two Aged Yetis That Made It To The Back Of The Cellar Two Years Ago.” Although I do love it when I unknowingly age beers for a year or more; it shows I have no short term memory patience.

First Thoughts:
Head: Thick, tightly-packed, dark tan.
Nose: Rich, dark coffee.
Color: Black.

Presentation (5): Great Divide’s bottles are fairly the same throughout their line, and all of them provide the kind of info beer snobs love like “Bottled on:” date and suggested food pairings. Great Divide gets extra points for actually suggesting breakfast items like eggs Benedict and a breakfast burrito as food pairings. The graphic takes up most of the label, with silhouetted Yeti running around with a coffee cup. The beer pours out like motor oil into the glass. Everything about this beer makes me want to drink it. 5

Originality (5): Imperial stouts brewed with coffee beans aren’t too new, and really neither is oak-aging at this point. But packing all those techniques together without it all falling apart is worth some points. Great Divide won a Bronze in 2007 for their Oak-Aged Yeti, so their own style of wood-aged stouts is at least that old. 3

Body (10): Big. Dense carbonation makes the sip spread through the mouth. The wood-aging does go a way towards mellowing out the harshness of any hoppiness, but this still feels like you’re drinking a steak. A nice coffee-encrusted steak, but still. That said, this IS an Imperial Stout, so the body is more or less apropos here. 8

Taste (10): Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Immediately evident in the sip are the chocolate malt notes, followed immediately by the flavors of deep, dark coffee. The sip finishes with a hit of that woody bitterness indicative of wood-aged beers so this doesn’t turn into coffee syrup in your mouth. The flavor is nothing if not intense. 9

Efficiency (10): With a high ABV and a really nice taste, this beer would be crazy easy to drink (and therefore high on the E scale) if not for the super-big mouthfeel. Getting through a 22 oz bottle may be tough, but there’s a nice glowy reward at the end of the journey. 8

Versatility (10): Practically none. I was about 8 oz into my first 10 oz glass and I started to wonder if I had room for any more. Perfect for a small glass to see what it’s like, but certainly not something you can do more than one of. If you wanted to get really crazy, you could take a cue from the Sunset Grill & Tap and toss a scoop of good vanilla ice cream in a pint glass with this beer. Trust me; it’s good. 4

Final Score: 37 – Really Good Beer

What they say: When empirical and creative impulses collide, the result is often timeless. The classic utility-art aesthetic of the coffee maker is an example of design and engineering working in concert.

It is through similar cooperation that the simple bitter cocoa bean is transformed into a sweet treat. As scientists, our brewers utilize their materials to exacting standards. As artists, they couldn’t resist the temptation to combine two of our highly acclaimed Blackwater Series Imperial Stouts: Jahva and Choklat. Alone each is perfect, but together as Mokah they are an inimitable expression of two of the world’s most sought after flavors. Enjoy Mokah stout with—or as—your favorite dessert!

Website: After the yes/no “of age” graphic, the page opens to their news and announcements (nice). There are links at the top for beers, tour, onsite bar, etc. The beer list is one big page, with links that skip you down the page to the different headings. The categories list things like year-round, seasonal, etc, covering all offerings (even the one available only at the brewery). Well done.

Why This One, Show?: Southern Tier can always be counted on to make a quality beer. In doing some research on their new 422 Pale Wheat Ale, I saw that they had blended the sublime Choklat with the haven’t-had-a-chance-to-try-it-by-itself-yet Jah*Va. I saw it at one of my local brew stores, so I grabbed it.

First Thoughts:
Head: Thin, white, some good lace cling.
Nose: Unmistakably chocolate nose, not too much coffee.
Color: Jet black.

Presentation (5): Southern Tier’s bottles make a beer snob smile. The labels are chock-full of great information, graphics, and facts. The label isn’t paper, but rather a vinyl sticker that encircles the bottle. On this one is a Moka pot, the ingredients in the beer (malts, hops, flavorings), a picture of the correct glassware WITH correct serving temperature, and the full text of the “What They Say” bit above. Perfect label snobbery. 5

Originality (5): This is a beer blend (Ja*vah and Choklat), so Southern Tier gets points in this field. Made with Jamaican coffee and bittersweet Belgian chocolate. Not the first, but well above most. 4

Body (10): Nice light body for an Imperial stout. Beer spreads a bit in the mouth, and there is that distinct “stout”-feel, but I’ve certainly felt like I’ve needed to chew much lesser stouts. There is not a lot of carbonation, as I’d expect. But there are enough bubbles so as to not make it seem like you’re drinking coffee syrup. 9

Taste (10): In a word: awesome. There’s sweet chocolate right at the top of the sip, then that melds together with the coffee flavor in the middle, turning to the slightly bitter coffee right at the swallow. The chocolate is almost too sweet, so it’s thankfully balanced out by the coffee. The name Mokah is no foolin’–this tastes like a cup of fancy, expensive coffee, just iced and in beer form. 10

Efficiency (10): Southern Tier’s Imperial offerings are nothing short of the definition of efficiency. Great-tasting beers with a high enough ABV that one 22 oz. bomber is all you need to start feeling good. With practically no hop bitterness (due to the emergent coffee and chocolate flavors), you can take hearty sips of this remarkably smooth stout, and three-quarters of the way through the 10-oz. glass you’ll realize you’ve started getting tingly. 10

Versatility (10): As my esteemed colleague put it in the Oat Imperial Oatmeal Stout review, if the brewer suggests a brandy snifter as the beer’s correct glassware the versatility isn’t getting high marks. One bomber is more than sufficient; in fact, the sweetness of the beer starts to edge into “Ok, that’s enough” territory by the time you finish the bottle. 3

final score: 41 – Great Beer

Brewed By: Kiuchi Brewery
Brewed In: Ibaraki, Japan
Type: Stout
ABV: 7.5%

What They Say: Near as I can tell, nothing. This might be a seasonal offering and, as such, is not currently on their website. But their website has no description of this beer and, if there’s one on the bottle itself, it’s in Japanese and I can’t read it.

Website: This is the English version of their webpage. There’s also a Japanese version that I didn’t bother with because unicode is for wusses (that’s some web developer humor for my boys out there). Regardless, it’s a serviceable website. I can’t say it’s particularly good or bad. You’d think they could register a domain for English speakers instead of having to go though the whole “choose the Japanese or English version” thing. Whatever, I guess.

Why I Picked It: Valentine’s Day gift. Yes, that’s how many of these I have in the can.

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Presentation: I love this brewery’s little owl character. It’s one of the more recognizable logos for those of us who wander aimlessly around beer stores. The label has a psychedelic spiral on the front surrounding the owl — very Magic Hat-y. Everything other than the front label is very plain black and white. Regardless, the little owl, because of it’s general awesomeness will almost always score Kiuchi a five. 5

Originality: While I do love stouts, I can’t call a stout using a morning caffeine product particularly original. Unless it’s a cappucino or macchiato stout. Which I don’t think I’ve seen. 2

Taste: The bitter espresso notes are a very obvious sidecar to the normal bittery stout flavor. It’s very much a common stout. The only real “spins” on stout are when you try to sweeten it up with vanilla or milk. When you strap some coffee or espresso or chocolate on it, it’s just a bitter stout with a little bit of extra bitter flavor. For me, I like the flavor of your basic stout, so I like this. If you were looking for something not stouty, probably not for you. 6

Body: It pours like you’d expect a stout to pour. Almost no head and a thick, black liquid you can’t see through. It’s a bit more carbonated than your general stout. Kiuchi claims to use a “sake brewing process” and maybe that’s to credit for it. I don’t know if the extra carbonation in a stout really works. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever really drank a stout and said “you know what this needs? Bubbles.” but I will say I did like the little spin on the formula. 6

Efficiency: I find stouts to be the most poundable beers this side of American ales. The lack of carbonation and the lack of any strong flavors until the aftertaste let you chug half-a-glass. When you start dropping “Imperial” ABVs in them, which this beer doesn’t quite reach at 7.5%, they start to get dangerously strong. The generally smooth body with good stout flavor together with a high-alcohol content make this beer incredibly efficient — conquered only by your usual Imperial offerings. Hurting it’s efficiency is the one 330 ML bottle for $3.50. I expect stuff like that in a bar — not in Whole Foods. 7

Versatility: A little less versatile than common stouts because of the bigger ABV. I’m not sure what I would volunteer this beer for. The single bottle offering combined with price and ABV makes this not good for a whole lot. Stouts are generally a little too bitter to cook with so nothing doing there. Not a lot to go on. It’s not so good you’d have to have someone try it and not so bad you’d never buy it. Let’s split the difference and kick it down a point for coming in single 12 oz bottles. 4

The Beer Snob Says: A perfectly acceptable stout, but not one to go out of your way for.

Final Grade: 30 (of 50) – OK Beer.