Great Divide Belgica
There is a little joke in the homebrewing community that sometimes when someone screws up a beer, they just call it a Belgian, because many times the flavors in that style are unique to the type of yeast used. Maybe also sometimes wild fermentation of the sour beers can leave some novice brewers to believe that if wild yeast or bacteria get hold of their beer, they can call it a Belgian whatever, and that’s OK. I’m sure that is not what Great Divide did, but a Belgian IPA made me think of some I have tried in competition that were obvious contaminated IPA’s that the brewer was trying to pass off as Belgian. I do want to go on record as saying that a screwed up beer and Belgian style beer are not one and the same at all. So, with that little story out of the way, lets get on with the review.
As you may have noticed, I added two easy links to the right side of the page. One is to the full guidelines from the BJCP with all the beer styles, you can download this PDF to your computer or print it out if you want to have access to these at all times. I also added a link to a scoresheet so you can see what criteria I am using and scoring system. There is no Belgian IPA style so technically this is a specialty beer. And as I pointed out in past entries, you need to identify the base style (in competition the brewer needs to specify what the base beer was) and what the special technique, ingredient, or other aspect that makes this beer a specialty beer. A quick look at Great Divides website leads me to believe that I should treat this as an IPA with Belgian yeast used (even though they used Belgian Pilsner malt, its mostly the yeast that will add the Belgian Character) So it looks like they tried to take Belgian Pale Ale and combine it with an American style IPA.
In the aroma there is a nice blend of Belgian yeast derived phenols. It’s cloves, spicy, and slightly peppery. I get some floral and grapefruity citrus hop aroma as well. Malt wise the beer offers what I call a clean sweetness. Not quite corn-like but not much in the way of toast, caramel, roast, or other typical malt aroma. I think the blend works very well here, but would like a touch more hops in the aroma. This bottle is just a bit weak in hop aroma for an IPA, but hop aroma does diminish with age. (8 points)
The color is a straw yellow with some very good clarity. It poured a very nice head with some great lacing.Color seems bit low for both an IPA and Belgian Pale. (2 points)
The flavor is interesting. The beer is mildly sweet up front and finishes dry. What is interesting is the blend of Belgian yeast flavors with the grapefruity hop character. There is also some mild fruitiness, almost pear-like which softens the grapefruity bite. The malt flavor is slightly grainy, with some crusty bread flavor. Yeast wise, I am not a fan of the combination with the bitterness from the hops, but I can see its appeal that some may like. The hops and yeast flavors take center stage though without a doubt and the malt just barely supports the other flavors. As the beer warms, I also got some alcohol which was not in the aroma. (13 points)
The mouthfeel is medium/light with some higher carbonation, which leads to a bit of acidic feel. (4 points)
Overall, I have to admit that right off the bat I really didn’t enjoy the beer. But, when evaluating a beer you sometimes need to look beyond if you like the beer or not, and look at the beer subjectively instead of objectively. If you look at what the brewer was trying to do, I think they did a good job of blending the two styles in a way that showcases what they intended to. Each beer style within this beer, was brewed well and had all the key components. Some fruitiness, yeast derived phenols, hop flavor/aroma/bitterness, and was fairly well balanced. I would just think a bit more IPA and touch less Belgian in this style would have been a bit better. (7 points)
For a Belgian IPA I score this beer a 33, which would be in the B- range if you were to try to put a letter grade on it.
If I were to put a personal twist on the review, I would say the spice from the yeast is odd with the hops, and does not work for my taste. But you can’t do that in judging, sometimes you have to put your personal feelings aside and look at what the brewer accomplished. There are times you are stuck judging styles you don’t particularly like, and often those are the best categories for you to judge. You tend to put personal taste or aroma preferences aside and pay closer attention to what the guidelines are for that style. They may not be as fun to evaluate or judge because you don’t like the style, but often those are the ones you leave the most subjective feedback.
