The de facto kick-off event for media and trade at the Great American Beer Festival has become the reception Great Divide Brewery hosts during Thursday afternoon before the first public session. It has the feel of a class reunion, except you will not run across any old girlfriends or the guy you really thought was total jerk in 10th grade. At least I didn't.
At just about every turn I bumped into a writer I had not seen in a while or a brewer that produces beer I really enjoy. Great Divide brewer Taylor Rees was on hand and if you followed him back to the brewery's cold storage area a few special treats awaited. But you did not have to reach the inner sanctum of the brewery to taste one of my favorites during the event: Great Divide Rumble.
Great Divide Rumble is an oak-aged IPA that pours a tarnished copper color with a healthy tan head. There is a healthy amount of piny hop character to this brew, but just as the hops start to dominate, the vanilla and caramel notes from the wood emerge to balance the brew and lengthen the flavor profile.
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