Name – Oak Aged Yeti
Country – United States
Type – Russian Imperial Stout

Do you ever have something that you like so much and then you see the creator mess with it in the attempts to make it better?  Sometimes this can lead to success while other times it can be utter crap (Star Wars Special Edition).  Well right here we have something that I very much love, Yeti from Great Divide.  And with this beer it is an oak aged version.  So let’s see if Great Divide are on to something here or if they are just another Lucas.

The beer pours into my Cigar City snifter motor oil black.  What started out looking like there was going to be no head actually turned into a thin light brown one at the top.  But it didn’t last long and quickly dissipated into the brew.

The smell has a very strong cocoa scent to it that reminded me of the cocoa used to make chocolate milk.  Nice vanilla notes are present most likely from the oak but I don’t really get any oak smells in here.  And there is also an ever so slight alcohol smell but it is inviting as if there is nothing to fear.

Well on the first sip I definitely tasted the oak and it stays there through out the entire taste.  More vanilla with a chocolate swirl to it are the main backing flavors.  But what is this?  Hops?  Yes there is quite a hop presence for this RIS.  The bottle says 75 IBUs and I would say that is pretty high.  And then I get some ever so slight hints of cherry and smoke in there as well.  A very complex taste.

So did Great Divide decide to make Greedo shoot first on this beer.  I don’t think so but I don’t think it is quite as nice as the original Yeti to me.  The oak was a bit to pungent as it left this dry, earthy after taste in my mouth.  The hops were also very big in this but that can be fixed by sitting on the bottle for a little while.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a very good beer.  I just think it would benefit from some age to make it even better.  So I will probably head to the store and pick up another bottle to do just that.  I recommend you do the same but why don’t you get a bottle to give a try now and see if you like it.  You may like it now.

Grade – B+