Yeti - Gingerbread
Great Divide Brewing Co.

Everything you'd want a stout to be-- rich and full in flavor, lacking bitterness, excellent body, woah-- that spice! I couldn't stop sniffing it and drank it all rather quickly because it went down so smoothly. Can't wait to get my hands on another can of this!

19.2oz can poured into a tulip

A- pours black in color with a one-finger creamy khaki head that reduces to a film floating on top

S- initial aroma smells like a pumpkin stout; heavy ginger up front with notes of cinnamon, allspice & clove. Undertones of chocolate, roast & vanilla

T- sweet and malty up front with notes of vanilla cream, immediately followed by dark chocolate and that signature roast from the base beer, Mid-palate brings out a heavy wave of spices; ginger, allspice, clove and plenty of cinnamon, The finish gives more sweet vanilla cream, with more ginger and cinnamon popping back up on a long linger

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns slightly creamy into the finish

O- this is very similar to a Hardywood GBS, which is the gold standard of Gingerbread stouts. A worthy Yeti variant

Extra-tallboy can. Canned on 10/25/22, sampled 05/29/24.

Appearance: Black glass holds a thin rocky tan head. Strong backlight shows a little ruby edge to inky black.

Smell: A distinct pine note, the gingerbread spice, hard to get any beer notes.

Taste: Christmas spices, clove in orange, all spice, ginger, brown sugar, frosting, gingerbread, maple syrup, hint of peppermint, candied orange peel, coca cola, and when I really dig for it, a hint of malt which quickly is just lost in the tidal wave of flavors.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium low carbonation, dense texture, very heavy body, oily mouth-coating finish lasts for approximately half of all known time.

Overall. Wow. I'm a Yeti fan, this may be one of the variants I actually prefer to the base. Many not all the time, it's huge, big bold flavors, pretty much Christmas in a can, a big ole tall boy can. I think the year and a half it waited for me at Central Market in Ft. Worth mellowed out the spices, which is very welcomed here. So much complexity, all of it great. Big fan, strong recommendation.

 

Drank 12/28/2023. Canned 10/25/22? Not sure that's right, this just started showing up on shelves a week or two ago? Anyway.....
Pour is beautifully black with a dense cinnamon colored head. Excellent retention
Nose is a big wave of gingerbread up front. Fresh ginger, cinnamon, vanilla
Taste is chocolate gingerbread. Chocolate intertwined with ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, clove, coriander, bitter chocolate. Quite tasty.
Smooth, creamy body; feels like it's not quite as thick as Yeti, but still very good.
Very nicely made gingerbread beer. Definitely heavy on the ginger, but it works.

 

 

pours dark creamy head big ginger and malt smell - heavey stouut drink slow to enjoy

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque in the glass with a three finger dark khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, ginger, mild chocolate; ginger dominant. Flavor is dark toasted malt, gingerbread cookie, light bakers chocolate and some orange zest. Cookie finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. Every time I see one of these Yeti variants, I can't help thinking I'm getting more gimmick than stout, but they usually pull it off. I attribute that to the rock solid Yeti base stout, which is still as fine as it was decades ago. This one is bit over the top with ginger, which almost completely dominates the aroma, but I have to say the flavor is solid gingerbread cookie even to the sweetness level and a suggestion of dough. Some of the Yeti chocolate malt notes peek through and fit in fine. Body is lighter than regular Yeti and a bit light for a RIS, but supports the ginger flavor fine. Looks great. Still wish they would ditch the 19oz. cans, they are too big for a 9% + beer, but I'll still try each of these at least once.

Brown speckles on a lighter black body, big brown head. Smells strongly of gingerbread, really impressively so actually. Fee is much the same, but I want to note this is not gimmicky, rather the spices ratios are intentional on the palate, with sweet biscuit emerging with mild roasted and baker's chocolate supporting. Body is lighter and thinner though but never a problem because spices are so potent. Would be perfect for Christmas time

 

Pours an effervescent chestnut with a pinky of mocha colored head. Average head retention & good lacing

S: Classic Gingerbread smells in spades

T: Plenty of dryness, then gingerbread flavor onslaught, but in a natural way, kust a little booze bite too, seems to actually make me like it more, some faint cola notes as well up front. More gingerbread & a touch of cola & booze warmth, some woody hops & sarsaparilla. Finishes a little dry, a little boozey & with plenty of Gingerbread

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, warming. Body thickens as this beer came to room temperature & carbonation dialed back

Drinks good, wish there was a little something to counter the featured flavor, a bit more, but this is one of the few beers of this ilk I would consider buying again

 

Poured from a 19.2 oz can dated 10/25/22 into a Yeti mug.
L - Pours a dark brown with a nice tan head.
S - Smells of gingerbread.
T - Tastes of gingerbread and chocolate.
F - Medium to full bodied with low carbonation.
O - Tasty stout, better than I expected.

 

Pours black with a light brown head. Gingerbread taste but not overpowering, sweet, but offset nicely by a slight bitterness at the finish.

This poured a beautiful black. Looks like a glass of used motor oil. A good 2 inches of cocoa head. Little lacing.
Smelled like, well, gingerbread. It's surprising, really. A lot of Christmas/winter beers are brewed with ginger, and many of them are offensive in their use of the product. This smells like mom's gingerbread. A little spicy, a little sweet, Definitely molasses. Your traditional baking spices. A touch of orange peel. Nicely rounded.
Taste is shockingly good. I figured this would be a gimmicky beer. I owe Great Divide an apology. I don't normally love hops, but the spice profile is perfect for a gingerbread stout. The baking spices and honey tie it together wonderfully. I'd never believe it was 9.5 ABV.
This is on the upper end of medium-bodied. Next to no carbonation. I'll be honest - it could have been a little fuller and I would have been happy, but the mouthfeel was still excellent.
Overall: Wow. You need to like gingerbread to like this, but if you do, you've gotta try it. A unique, welcome departure from classics like Great Lakes and 12 Dogs.