Great Divide Brewing Company

bditty187

Nebraska

4.46/5  rDev +7.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $

Recently I had my second visit to Great Divide. We stopped in on a Monday afternoon about 2:30. There was 10 people around the bar area... many drinking pints/goblets while some had samplers. Most, as it turned out, were waiting for the 3pm tour (which we had no interest in taking as I've been on many brewery tours including GD).

Service was great. The bartender was busy and she kept up with everybody. She was cool and knew enough about their beer. I couldn't say she was a beer geek but she got the job done. Over the course of the hour we were there I had a Hercules and Espresso Yeti... my fiancée had a Hades (via bottle) and a Claymore (tap). Unlike our last visit (during a GABF weekend) there was nothing overly unique or funky (aka, no brewery-only stuff) which was to be expected but a bummer nevertheless.

The vibe is chill, cool... but still a brewery with a taproom. No TV. No food besides chips. I like GD but it isn't much more than a place to grab a fresh GD beer or two and move on. The place, as mentioned, is awfully small.

Prices are very good... if you factor in the free samples it is quite the bargain.

The lady that gave the 3pm tour, once completed, came back and had a DPA straight from the bottle which I thought was really odd. Not that drinking from the bottle is a crime but is it really the image a brewery wants of its beer?

All in all, I wouldn't consider Great Divide a must stop but if you have the time it is worth it.

01-12-2011 17:14:28 | More by bditty187

BigbROB

Illinois

4.38/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Great Divide Tap Room is exactly that. A small room, little bigger than before, with taps on the wall. But the beer is good and the service is good. On a nice day make sure to sit out front and watch all the cool kids on their fixed gear bikes. I took a tour there awhile ago, and it was quite personal. Small group got up close and personal with all the people and equipment. Good times. A must stop if you are in Denver.

05-17-2013 14:11:58 | More by BigbROB

TychoNDC

New York

4.3/5  rDev +3.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

I had a fantastic time at Great Divide's brewery and taproom in Denver about April 2013. It's a surprisingly small place considering their distribution footprint and the number of different beers they are brewing at any given time. The location is fairly convenient, only a few blocks from Coors Field and a few more from many other bars and restaurants. I went on a Sunday afternoon and the place was pretty packed. The tap room was reasonably small and quite crowded, but they were pumping out a lot of beer. I waited a bit to get a seat and was then able to get some samples. $1 per 4oz (or more generous) pour. With 4 different Yetis on tap, it's impossible not to like that! They had some bombers available as well, and full pours were available for their beers for a reasonable price. They give free tours every 30 minutes or so as well. It's a very laid back, casual experience in which you can walk about the brewery while drinking your beers from the bar. And when you're done you can pop back in the taproom for some more tastings. All in all, it was a real treat from a great brewery. I will definitely return during my next trip to Denver.

05-15-2013 00:44:57 | More by TychoNDC

Hoppy-Joe

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +8.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.75 | $$

This place has really good brews and many different kinds to choose from. Went on a super busy Saturday and still got beers within reasonable amounts of wait times. Good price on beers as well. And you can beat the 3 oz. samplers for $1 that in which they donate the proceeds of to local nonprofits. My only bad thing to say about this place is that there were no samples giving out on the tour.

03-16-2013 18:54:00 | More by Hoppy-Joe

GilGarp

Colorado

4.28/5  rDev +2.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Great Divide is located on the corner of a city block without much around it. There is some street parking but no lot.

Once inside, it's a comfortable, relaxing place to have a beer. It seems like an old brick warehouse building but with a good amount of natural light. Lots of windows and nice atmosphere.

The bar has maybe 10-12 chairs so it's fairly intimate. There is a larger seating area around the back of the bar.

Service is very good. The bartenders are more than willing to explain the different beers and make a recommendation.

Great selection of beers from the very light body/flavor to the big full bodied yeti.

Overall a great brewery with a little something for everyone and a nice place to enjoy it.

11-06-2012 03:43:35 | More by GilGarp

DoubleJ

California

4.3/5  rDev +3.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

With a few hours before my flight, we decided to sneak a peak at Great Divide. As the brewery is located near downtown, we were lucky to find a parking spot on the street less than a block away. Go inisde...this is the tap room? It looks smaller than I thought it would be. We felt like we were packed tight together, even though there is another room behind the bar, where you can serve yourself water (good idea!). A small fridge stocked with Great Divide beers sits by the entry, as do the restrooms. Service at the bar is easy to access despite the small space and crowd during our visit.

15 different beers on-tap, some staples (Yeti, Denver Pale Ale, Titan IPA), others released on a rotating basis (Wolfgang Doppelbock, Belgian Yeti, Nomad Pilsner). All the pours are $6, which is a little more than average for Denver, but at least the beers are good and you are given a chalice to drink from instead of shaker pints. Samples are available for $1 a pop, which are worth it given you seem to get more than a few ounces.

If I hadn't walked into Great Divide already hitting a brick wall with beer consumption, I would have been happy to sample more than just the Fresh Hop Ale. To take my mind off the pain, we joined a tour group and toured the brewery, the presenter being very enthusiastic and already a fan of their beers before he joining their crew. Honestly, I was expecting Great Divide to be bigger, but that doesn't dilute the fact that they make great beer, and the tap room visit gives you the chance to try fresh brews which you may not be able to receive in your area. Highly recommended.

10-20-2012 03:04:11 | More by DoubleJ

merc7186

New York

4.14/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $

Visited on 10/12/12. GABF Week. (Stop #1 of the day)

We went here as our pre-lunch beer stop and before it got super busy.

A: Atmosphere is decent, the bar area can hold about a dozen at the bar, with space along the walls and a few tables too. They also had an outdoor tent amongst the tanks that also had picnic tables too. The place has a very upbeat vibe to it.

Q: Every beer we had was good if not better, including some special one offs too.

S: Even when the place got really packed, the bartenders were prompt and knowledgeable.

S: They were killing it when we went there with special one offs, they had three specals on which were a Colorado Fresh Hop, Fall Saison, and a Salted Gose. Had no less than 18-20 in house beers on tap all time.

V: $1 ~ 5oz samplers were awesome. Pints were only $4 each...if thats their regular price, then WoW.

Overall, if you go to Denver, must stop...one of favorite places of my trip.

10-19-2012 16:13:00 | More by merc7186

sommersb

Tennessee

4.14/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Stopped by the taproom one night on my business trip.

Parking was kind of a pain -- it was all sidewalk parking as far as I could tell.

Atmosphere was good - the taproom is pretty small with a few tables, a long bar and then a few more tables outside. The weather was fantastic so I first sat at the bar and then later outside when I had some food from a foodtruck (there's no food available in the taproom). The aromas inside remind me of homebrewing, as the place smells of sweet, bready malts.

I had a pint of a one-off beer, an Oktoberfest style beer that was OK. I then had a flight which was even better - I think I paid $6 for 3 pours. Glassware was nice, with a combination of cervoise glasses or snifters depending on what was ordered.

Service seemed good - the bartender watched for an empty glass and then asked what I needed. Selection was very good, with maybe 12 beers on tap, plus a refrigerated case with bombers, 4-packs, and 6-packs for purchase to go.

I liked the taproom and could see going back on a regular basis if I lived in the area. Recommended you try it out.

09-23-2012 21:29:01 | More by sommersb

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

4.16/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $

Downtown Denver is a weird mix of one way streets and something called 'no double turns'. This place is on a one way street that you have to do a lap around the block from the direction we were coming. And then we found out they don't open until 2pm.

Once the time was right, headed back over. Man, it was already packed. Went twice during my week in Denver, and uh, it was packed both times, no Rockies games going on even. And its packed for good reason. Good stuff. Probably seats 12-15 at the stainless steel bar, some standing seating against the wall, a few booths in the room connected to the bar.

Impressed they had a few kinds of Yeti's available (Choc, Belgian, reg). Samarai was actually really good. $26 for a bottle of BA Old Ruffian. They had this deal going on where you could get 3 tasters for $3. Yeti's included. Talk about your awesome, cheap drunkening. Cool tour. I don't think I've seen so much brewing capacity packed into such a small area before. Service is good, informative.

Like I said, I went to this place twice in the span of 4 days. Worth a visit or two.

08-31-2012 00:23:36 | More by Beerandraiderfan

bradybeer

California

3.91/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 1.5 | selection: 5 | $$

This is a must visit when in Denver, but try to avoid Rockies game days and 4-5pm ish.

Located a short walk to Coors Field Great Divide was a brewery we were really looking forward to visiting, since we tried our first Yeti Imperial Stout.

Walking in to the tap room you almost literally run into the bar. There were about 15 beers on tap and since it was firkin Friday there was another bonus beer. My wife and I tried; Hercules Double IPA, and an oaked version, Titan IPA, Claymore Scotch Ale, and Wolfgang Dopplebock. We would have liked to try samplers of several more, but because it was packed we had pints of the above beers. With the exception of the oaked Hercules, which my wife didn’t care for as much because of the strong oak flavor, we really enjoyed the beer.

Behind the bar is another room that has tables and stools, but was also packed. We didn’t buy any food from the pizza truck outside, but we did see the pies and they looked great.

The service was bad, yeah it was busy, but it was bad. For example, three bar tenders were working, but all three were helping the half a bar nearest to the door (which wasn’t even as busy as the other side). So if you were on the other side of the bar you might as well been in Colorado Springs.

Would love to go back but a less crushed time.

07-26-2012 14:28:20 | More by bradybeer