Great Divide Brewing - Fresh Hop Pale Ale

From Denver, Colorado, the Great Divide Brewing Company has some really fun and interesting beers out on the market. From their Double IPAs, Oak aged brews, to their barleywines; GDBC really does some cool stuff.

This, their Fresh Hop Pale Ale scores an A- on BeerAdvocate.com. The label describes that the whole cone, "wet" hops are flown to Denver overnight for a very fresh, clean style pale ale. Listed as 55 ibu, and 6.1% abv, I'm thinking this should be pretty similar to Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere, or maybe their fresh hopped Celebration. The date stamp on the label shows that this was bottled October 14, 2010; pretty fresh since Denver is pretty far from Connecticut.

Upon pouring, the Fresh Hop Ale is a light golden color, very clear and clean looking. The foam is a light, fluffy, head, bone white in color. Some light lacing sticks to the glass, but not to any great extent.

The aromas are just like the label describes, light, grassy, and citrusy. Not so much of the grapefruit or piney style of hops. The aromas are very subdued and subtle, but by no means bland.

On the palate, I must admit, I'm quite impressed. I'm not a big IPA kinda guy, but this is tasty. The hops are crisp, clean, and smooth. The bitterness is evident, but far more drinkable than all those hop-bomb double and extra IPAs on the market. Its really nice to see some make a smooth, easy style of Pale Ale.

There's even some mild notes of butterscotch, or caramel? Something in the background that I can't put my finger on is making this beer a little more complex, and quite smooth and almost creamy.

Great Divide Brewing Company
Fresh Hop Pale Ale
TCSH Rating - 8/10
Aka - maybe one of my favorite pale ales
Eli
Bibo ergo sum