December 22 - Great Divide Hibernation Ale


If you've been paying half-assed attention to my beer advent reviews this past 20-some days, you would notice I'm usually a day behind. This time, I'm a day behind because, like this beer, I was in hibernation.. sleeping for 16hrs straight, not wanting to get out of my cozy bed and all bah humbug worthy.

Today's sample is Hibernation Ale by Great Divide Brewery out of Denver, Colorado. Hibernation Ale is an English-style old ale, meaning a rich, dark, roasty and hoppy ale, not quite a porter, but quite dark none-the-less.

Appearance: A heavy nutty brown dark ale with a bit of a cherry wood hue to it. Light beige head, sticking to the side of the glass.

Aroma: Nutty aroma with a bit of a roasted malt giving it that coffee-like and dark chocolate scents to it.. oh and rich molasses aroma!

Taste: A rich roasted malt ale with notes of nuts, molasses and a bitter dark chocolate for aftertaste. Some noticable notes of wood and cream give it a nice mouthfeel to it. Very nicely hopped for it being a Dark English-style ale.

Overall Thoughts: Perfect for the season, nice and roasty, notes of coffee, molasses and nuts. Decent powdering of hops and an aftertaste of dark chocolate make it great for this time of year by the fire! 8.7% ABV


greatdivide.com/beer/seasonal/hibernation-ale/

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1 comment:

Dan said...

Sounds nice. I don't get the difference between old ale and barleywine other then maybe a point or two of alcohol.