Nomad - Great Divide Brewing Company

Bosoxfan20

Oklahoma

3.58/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

A- Clear golden with a trace of a white head. Sticky lacing.

S- Nice fruity aroma. Lemon and herbal notes. Not overly grainy like some of this style can be.

T- Fruit and spice. Not huge flavors, but enough to set it apart from the standard pils. Earthy hops give a touch of bitterness in the finish.

M- Clean and refreshing. Light to mid body. Moderate carbonation. Dry finish

O- Nothing spectacular, but a nice pilsner that works really well in the spring. Enjoyable. I really liked the spiciness to it

Serving type: on-tap

05-12-2013 17:16:45 | More by Bosoxfan20

dar482

New York

4.09/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

The color has a clear golden color with a foamy white head.

The aroma has a great saaz hops aroma, biscuit, and some pilsner skunk.

The flavor suits that with a grassy flavor. The malt backbone for this taste is wonderful. The mouthfeel and finish is amazing because of this big malt behind.

So far, one of my favorite American versions of a pilsner. A really wonderful job.

Serving type: on-tap

04-29-2013 20:53:14 | More by dar482

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Relatively clear with neutral golden color. Modest head that leaves some spotty lace.

Mild of aroma of fresh hop and sweet malt. I may be thrown off by the strong smell beer brewing in the background.

Thin bodied and slightly sour are my first impressions which misses the typical expectations of the style. Lip smackingly dry. Short aftertaste of neutral hop.

Serving type: on-tap

10-24-2012 16:33:51 | More by smcolw

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Draft at The Pour House in Westmont, NJ.

Pours a  cloudy pale golden yellow color with a two finger frothy white head quickly fades into a lasting ring. Chunks of soapy lacing left behind.

Slightly earthy aroma with a crisp hop presence along with grass, hay, light fruit and pale malts.  Nice balance of hops, sweeter notes and malt.

Medium bodied with a crisp, dry hop bite that provides some nice earthy bitterness which lingers over the earthy notes, sweet light fruit and pale malts.  Hints of pine, hay and straw followed by sweet apple and pear, bread and biscuity malt.  Really well balanced, refreshing and extremely quaffable.

Serving type: on-tap

06-26-2012 20:08:28 | More by corby112

bump8628

Oklahoma

3.98/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A nice aggressive pilsner with just a slightly rough edge to it. Plenty bitter with grass, citrus pith, and lemon zest hop flavors that hit the palate dead on. Malt is lean, letting the hops shine. Properly dry, which is critical. Another good effort by Great Divide.

Serving type: on-tap

03-19-2012 17:52:58 | More by bump8628

CampusCrew

Florida

4.5/5  rDev +22.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

appearance: golden

smell: like czech rep in a bottle. I was taken back

taste: wow, had on draft this was amazing. very balanced lager, lots of hop prensense but not over done

mouthfeel: medium bodied, full for a pils

drinkability: this is one of the best pilsners Ive had and I lived in Prague. This was a homerun

Serving type: on-tap

02-17-2012 20:49:42 | More by CampusCrew

callmemickey

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pale golden straw. Thing white head, traces of lacing.

S: Grainy malt, mild floral and spicy hop notes.

T: Like the nose, large grainy presence complemented by floral, grassy, and spicy saaz hop notes.

M: Light bodied, assertive carbonation, the finish could be a bit more crisp and refreshing.

O: I am a bit spoiled to have so many fresh pilsners available (Prima and the Braumeister pils series, Pikeland, etc) so this one just can't hang with them. All said though, it wasn't half bad.

Serving type: on-tap

02-12-2012 14:36:04 | More by callmemickey

kylehay2004

Florida

3.85/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Single finger head with lots of lacing. Clear straw colored body.

S: pilsner malt. A little yeasty. Grains and breads.

T: malt and grain with a sharp herbal and unearthly butter finish but no off putting aftertaste.

M: light body and high carbonation. Bitterness makes this one less refreshing.

Overall: the flavor has a nice bite to it which is good but detracts from the mouthfeel. I prefer the taste over mouthfeel so I like this one.

Serving type: on-tap

02-02-2012 01:07:35 | More by kylehay2004

Reaper16

Alabama

3.43/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

served on-tap @ Egan's, Tuscaloosa, AL, into a pint glass

Nomad looks exactly like you'd expect it to. It's yellow, it's effervescent, it's light. It has a good 1.5 fingers of bright white head. Good looking pils.

Nomad is not by any means a revolutionary take on the pilsner style. No surprises: just cracker-like pilsner malt and grassy hops. This isn't a Prima Pils type beer; no American hop influence or hop overload. Just a crisp green midpalate and a long, bitter finish. The aroma and taste match each other very well. No real fruity esters to speak of. Just a crisp, simple beer.

The mouthfeel from this keg is a bit thin, a bit watery. Nothing too poor, but I did want something that felt livelier, given the crisp flavor profile.

Overall, this is an above-average pilsner. If but this beer were popular and served everywhere instead of industrial lagers.

Serving type: on-tap

01-18-2012 20:19:47 | More by Reaper16

StonedTrippin

Colorado

3.48/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

new one from great divide. pours a very standard pilsner looking straw pale yellow with a fine 1 inch white head. smells quite malty and earthy for a pilsner. flavor agrees. this is a slightly bigger beer than most traditional czech pilsners. im picking up grassy and even rye notes in the flavor. mouthfeel is crisp and clean, with good carbonation and a light (but not too light) body. decent beer for the drinkers of lighter beers

Serving type: on-tap

01-09-2012 18:59:46 | More by StonedTrippin

Mebuzzard

Colorado

4.13/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

New one from GD in Denver. I have it at the store but I wanted to try it first off the tap.

Crystal clear, very light golden pour. Nice foamy white head, pretty clean lacing. Yep, looks like a pilsner to me.

Aroma is sharp and pale. The soft bread and light yeasty spice go well together. There's a bit of a huskiness to it as it warms.

Nice flavors. The hops are Czech as the spices and grassiness come out. Light malt and bread with some white pepper faintly arising and then going away. I think it has more flavor overall than the pilseners I had in Prague...of course those were lower abv too.
Good new brew from GD. Should give Samurai a run for its money in sales.

Serving type: on-tap

01-08-2012 22:53:32 | More by Mebuzzard

argock

Virginia

3.61/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz brown bottle into a clear glass tumbler. Bottled on Feb 08, 2013, stamped on side of front label. Purchased at Knightly Liquors (Orlando, FL).

A: Clear yellow with a prodigious 2-finger white head with good retention and an impressive coverage of the glass with lacing.

S: Clean Pilsner malt with strong grain and cracker character with sharp Czech noble hopping.

T: The flavor is not as clean as it could be with a lot of herbal and soft citrus hoppy bitterness that clouds the grainy, crackery maltiness. There is no yeast component, but the bitterness is a tad too high.

M: Clean with a fairly light body with high carbonation.

O: A fairly run-of-the-mill Czech pilsner -- solid but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 02:49:40 | More by argock

atr2605

New York

3.7/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A-pours a transparent yellow with a white sudsy head with nice retention
S-grassy, lemon, and a bit of malt sweetness
T-more grassy hops with the malt providing a nice balance
M-light bodied and crisp
O-nice, light, and refreshing. pretty solid brew for the style

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 01:35:24 | More by atr2605

metter98

New York

3.85/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

A: The beer is clear yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a finger high white head that died down but consistently left a thin head covering the surface and lots of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of grassy hops are present in the nose along with some notes of earthy and spicy hops plus some hints of biscuit malts.
T: Similar to the smell, the hops dominate the overall taste—particularly in the way of grassy flavors—although there are also some added hints of yeast. A light amount of bitterness is present.
M: It feels a bit more than light-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I liked this beer because it wasn't bland or boring and imparted lots of complex aromas and flavors from the hops. It is rather easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2013 23:36:08 | More by metter98

DoubleJ

California

3.8/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Great Divide is on the pilsner radar, and I'm thirsty. 12 ounces is what I get. On to the beer:

Golden straw color with visible bubbles running through the body, topped with a semi-soapy, inch thick head. Good start. It follows though by leaving good chunks of lace around the glass. Its aroma is clean with a little sweetness and floral notes. Floral, grass clippings, and a little honey.

Fresh lager is a good thing, and being just 2 months from being bottled, you can tell it tastes fresh. It's not BIG in flavor like Titan IPA, this is a relaxed, easy to approach pilsner. A netural cracker and floral note hit first. Dry cracker and a little grass midway, finished with an herbal and pleasant bitterness. It's light bodied with a pleasant crisp body...gulp, I'm done! That'll hydrate me :-)

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2013 06:34:44 | More by DoubleJ

Bitterbill

Wyoming

3.66/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Bottled on...err...the black patch has naught on it.

It's a light golden colour with a small and fast receding head of foam that does stick around for the entire session. Speaking of sticking around...there's lacing.

The smell as a crisp Pils hop nose with some notes of grain and corn.

The taste displays a fairly crisp hop character, stronger with graininess, and a bit of corn and almost a horse blanket kind of taste. The hops seem to be subdued. Usual or the norm? I don't know.

Spot on with the mouthfeel for the style, it's easy drinking though a bit on the dull side. Well, not THAT dull.

I like.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 22:29:43 | More by Bitterbill

MattyG85

Minnesota

4.05/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" glass. Bottling date of Dec 27, 2012.

Appearance: Pours a bright and clear yellowish golden orange with a lot of rising bubbles. Solid three fingers of white head with good retention. Leaves a good amount of lacing around the glass.

Smell: A crisp, grainy, and hoppy classic Pilsener aroma. Wheat grains and pale malts upfront with good hints of biscuit, hay, yeast, and toast. Solid hop presence with hints of herbal, earthy, and floral hops. Good hints of grass and citrus lemon and orange. Also a little herbal spicing. A nice balance of bready malts and spicy hops. Pretty traditional Pils aroma.

Taste: Follows the nose well, a bready and nicely hopped classic Pilsener taste. Big bready malt taste upfront with notes of wheat grains, biscuit, hay, yeast, and toast. Good Saaz hop balance with notes of grass and floral, earthy hops. Citrus taste of lemon and a little orange. Fairly spicy and musty tasting. A typical Pilsener taste that is well balanced. Pretty good.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Nicely crisp, dry, and smooth.

Overall: A pretty solid Pilsener. Its what you expect from the style. Solid balance.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2013 04:25:46 | More by MattyG85

CHickman

New York

3.81/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours crystal clear ginger ale yellow color with a big 2 finger foamy white head that was packed with a massive array of different sized bubbles and faded very slowly, dissipating and going down like a deflating air mattress, leaving good foamy lacing that coated the sides and rings as it went down.

Smells of malt, cardboard, yeast, wet bread and floral hops, followed by herbs, lemon zest, dry grass or hay and light toast. Like all pilsners, it’s pretty basic with a hint of hops to offset the malty backbone.

Tastes like it smells, with malt, cardboard, yeast, wet wheat bread, biscuit, lemon zest, coriander, floral hops, herbs, tea leaf, hay, mild spice and faint caramel. The spices and hops are soft, but add enough to the biscuity malts and grains to make it smooth and balanced. It’s basic and a nice American version of a European classic.

Mouthfeel is light and yet zesty and watery at the same time, with light carbonation, a light to medium body for the style, and a slightly bitter finish that has lemon zest , grains and hops which trail off on the sweet side.

It is extremely easy to drink and typical of the style meant to be a session beer. This would great to pound at a party or on the deck over the summer, and what it lacks in flavor that you’d expect from Great Divide it makes up with drinkability. I enjoyed it, but would not go out of my way to buy a 6 pack of it.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2013 03:44:33 | More by CHickman

gpogo

California

3.01/5  rDev -18%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A- Light yellow slightly hazed body makes me think this pilsner was not filtered. Nice white head keeps a foam cap on throughout the session.

A- Light sweet malt aroma a pleasant floral bitterness and a slight note of alcohol.

D- Light sweet body with a pleasant light bitterness throughout. Not as floral as I would have hoped for nor was the flavor as crisp. The light sweet malt and bitterness are kindof muddy. Seems a little on the sweet side.

M- Light smooth body and moderate-low carbonation. Perhaps with a bit more carbonation the light crisp feeling could have come out more.

D- It's alright. I would not recommend it as a pilsner though, there are many better versions. Typically I find you can't go wrong with Great Divide. In this case, I would recommend against this brew.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2013 03:26:50 | More by gpogo

allforbetterbeer

Colorado

3.45/5  rDev -6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This beer looks fantastic. The body is a beautiful polished-gold that is crystal clear full of tiny rising bubbles. The head is bone white and fluffy and falls to a creamy layer on the surface that lasts forever.

On the nose the noble hops and sweet light grains work well in tandem, providing some sweet corn, earthy, and light sulfur notes.

The flavor has all the right components. There is an initial spicy zest from the hops, a bright bitterness that is unfortunately offset by a sweet note, and an aftertaste with crackery light toasty malts. The malts could be cleaner and more defined with greater clarity, and the sweetness could be toned down. The thirst-quenching ability of this beer is slightly impaired by the above mentioned deviations from tradition.

All in all this is still quite good, and I would be proud to have brewed it. However my experience of Great Divide has never been anything less than stellar, so I was hoping for a world class pils. This doesn't strike me as world class (which would be a feat indeed), but it is altogether worthy of the glass of any beer advocate.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 22:06:07 | More by allforbetterbeer

tdm168

North Carolina

3.1/5  rDev -15.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

A - clear gold with a thin white head

S - grains, sweet, faint grass

T - sweet, apples, grassy, grainy, bitter

M - light bodied, thin, crisp

This was very disappointing. It was far too sweet and showed many flaws. The mouthfeel was thin and coupled with the poor flavor it greatly brought down the drinkability. I definitely won't be picking this up again.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2013 01:58:48 | More by tdm168

JednoPivoProsim

Maryland

3.4/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 FL OZ bottle into a pint glass. BOTTLED ON DEC 21 2012.

Appearance: Pours a crystal clear golden with a decent white head. Lots of carbonation.

Smell: Earthy, grassy, metallic Euro hops.

Taste: Skunky, bitter hop flavor dominates. Needs more malt in the backbone.

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp and refreshing, although a little too thin.

Overall: Tastes more like a standard Euro pale lager than a specifically Bohemian pilsner. Could use a breadier malt body. Decent, not great.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2013 19:00:50 | More by JednoPivoProsim

stephens101

Oklahoma

3.43/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

A prominent off-white head results from a furious of bubbles. Retention is excellent. Color is a pure and clear yellow-orange. Smells of dry hay , crisp and sharp, but with a little must where some water leaked through the barn roof. Subtle light fruits are smelled in the distance. Tastes of fruit and straw with a grainy backbone. Smooth with just enough bitterness to balance well. Dry and light bodied. What we have here is a good, standard lager.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 22:58:21 | More by stephens101

BobN

Colorado

3.44/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Presentation - bottle, poured into crystal Czech beer stein.

A - Wonderful clarity, golden straw. Nice 2 finger head white/off white which dissipates into a nice lacing which persists during drinking.

S - Some bread, little citrus.

T - Mineral, chalk and grasses and bitter. Mineral aspects dissipate a bit as the beer warms during drinking.

O - A mineral and chalk taste is not my favorite, so this is a bit of a drawback for me. Other elements of the beer are good. It's a good representation of the style.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2013 22:59:57 | More by BobN

spoony

Colorado

3.8/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

From a 12 oz bottle into a pokal style glass.

A-The brew is pale straw in color. It poured mostly clear with a short, one-finger head of off-white foam. There is some carbonation visible. Not unattractive for the style.

S-The brew has a dry, malty smell of crackers and biscuits. Almost powdery smelling. Very few hop scents are noted, but there is a faint whiff of lemon.

T-Taste follows the smell with dry cracker and biscuit flavors from the malts. The finish is quite drying and chalky tasting. No real hop notes are present.

M-The brew is dry with a light to medium feel and a medium amount of fine carbonation.

O-This brew is a pretty simple example of the style. Flavors are not terribly complicated or intense and the whole package was a little rough-hewn, but this was not a bad session-type beer (I say session type because the ABV is above 5%). A few more hops would have helped balance the cracker/biscuit malts in this brew, but if you're looking for an easy-drinking pils to quaff during the game, this is not a bad option.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2013 16:47:31 | More by spoony