Great Divide Brewing Company

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

BigB415

California

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

Great Divide isn't located in the best part of Denver but it's Great Divide we're talking about here so it was worth walking all the way from the light rail station by the Wynkoop Brewery about 6 blocks away.

There's someone in front checking ID's and stamping hands which was nice so I didn't have to show my ID to the bartender when it was really busy. They have a small bar with just their own beers on tap. Pints are cheap and samples are only $1 and the samples are actually pretty generous. I went to try the Belgian Yeti and Espresso Yeti since I haven't had an opportunity to try either yet.

They only had the Belgian so I got a sample of that and walked around the small room. They had a small to-go fridge stocked with beer. If I was checking bags on the way back home I would of stocked up.

They finished giving tours for the day and had the brewery open so you can walk through and go to the back "patio" and either sit in between the silos or sit somewhere else, have a beer or have something to eat because they had a tent and were serving food. They also had a cooler with taps so you can get more beer back there instead of going back to the front.

I happen to show up about 5 minutes after their merch tent shut down so I went back the next day for a pint glass for my collection and another beer.

This place is a must visit for any GD fan!

10-07-2011 01:56:09 | More by BigB415

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

Flounder57

Massachusetts

4.16/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

We hit this place up this Monday as we did our quick Denver brewery bar crawl. Wynkoop was first and then the five minute walk up the street to Great Divide.

The atmosphere of the place is pretty cool. The building originally used to be a milk factory, garage band studio, and then brewery that it is known about today. Outside area for warmer months, inside seating around the bar and a side room to the left that has big windows that look into the brewery.

The service was kind of confusing. We sat ourselves at a table to the left in the side room. Waited and noticed that we had to deal with the crowd of people to get a beer. Not bad, but wish there was a sign posted for those not familiar with the tap room. I could see the struggle with this place if it were to get busier than the afternoon rush we were dealing room. Game days for the Rockies must be awful.

The quality and selection of the beer was good. Doesn't get any fresher than that and the selection was good considering we couldn't find some of the available beers in MA. They also had bombers and six packs available for sale. We each got a pint before the tour of the brewery with some Q & A's. We decided to get a flight of 3 for $3. Bargain and chat it up with the owner Tim and a local patron. We finished our beer and was off in the taxi across town to another Denver brewery.

If we had more time, we would have chilled here more to talk with employees and drink good, quality beers. Still happy we were able to stop by and try some delicious treats.

12-24-2011 07:11:02 | More by Flounder57

SidSales

United Kingdom (England)

4.16/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | $

I first visited this place in 2006 when on holiday from the UK and had a brewery tour. Every time we ever get to Denver we always head for this place as I love Great Divide beers.

My last visit in May saw a few changes from my last visit, the tap room has doubled in size and it seems more beers are on tap.

We tried 4 beers and they were all superb (well they were my first US beers the day after I landed) and we struck up a great conversation with a couple who had a new little baby in the back room. I loved the 19th Anniversary beer.

Service was not great with one of the bar staff being ignorant, in my opinion.

06-03-2013 15:38:18 | More by SidSales

northaustin

Texas

4.15/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $

Atmosphere: lovely. right downtown, bustling with the energy of the city. great beer moving at an unparalleled speed. completely packed full of people with positive energy. the serving area is small and cluttered with an open view of a sprawling storage area (mystical magic candy land).

quality: great divide. need i say more?

service: faster than i could handle, with an excellent attitude and an obvious love of pouring beer from each employee. Having a house completely packed didnt even seem to matter to them.

selection: smaller than expected but enough to keep me satisfied for sure.

01-18-2011 01:39:32 | More by northaustin

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

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

msubulldog25

Oregon

4.1/5  rDev -1.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

July 31, 2010; visited 3:30-5:30pm

After a quick and bewildering drive through a neighborhood where both my parents used to live (mom grew up less than 10 blocks up Arapahoe, near Curtis Park), S and I let Dad head over to Coors Field while we 'pre-gamed' at Great Divide.

The taproom is a smallish and fairly austere corner of the larger brewery, just a daylit white room with minimal schwag/decor, a narrow stretch of bar (too tight for comfort on a stuffy day) and a pair of doors leading to the brewery (tanks and barrels and raw materials just inside). After standing for a few minutes, we opted for the last outside table available of about 10, tucked around the corner near the loading yard; I sat below a GDBC mural painted on the concrete edifice.

Simple beer system here. First 4 sample pours (mini-snifters) are free. Yes, I said FREE. After that, they're $4 pints/snifters. Happy Hour discounts on weekdays knock off a dollar. We sampled Hades, Hoss, Claymore and Yeti (regular), all very good and VERY fresh. Over the course of two hours, my wife had two full Hades pours (she loves those Belgian goldens) and I went with Hoss and then a wonderful Espresso Yeti. Server Colin was lighting fast, efficient but friendly (AND he led the final tour of the day!). It helped to have cash to pay the tab as we went; a tip: have your ID ready, they check it every time.

We missed out on the tour (seen a few breweries in my day and wife was more interested in sittin' & drinkin'), but I'd gladly do it next time. And there will be a next time ~ certainly a worthy stop (AND I want my red 'bottlecap' t-shirt that they were SOLD OUT of! ~ oh well, got a cool glass instead)

One side note: on the way in, we met a local couple who struck up a conversation about my 'Double Mountain' t-shirt. They gave some solid Denver-area advice and mentioned they loved visiting Portland. So, cheers, Britt & Bailey ~ if you're reading this, look us up when you're back in the NW!

08-02-2010 17:49:33 | More by msubulldog25

AWolfAtTheDoor

California

4.03/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Had to check this place out while spending a few days in Denver. My party of 3 (only 2 drinkers) got there at about 3PM and somehow found 3 bar stools in the midst of a lot of people waiting for the brewery tour. Once that start about half of the people cleared out, and it was relatively calm until the end of the tour and more people showing up (it was a Friday after all). No food served, but a guy in a truck pulling a mobile wood oven pulls up outside and makes reasonably priced pizzas. Didn't try the food, but it looked yummy. Happy Hour pricing late in the afternoon means $1 off normal prices.

The 4 free tasters are more like 4 free small splashes of beer. Thought that was kind of cheesy, but what are you going to do? Service was slow despite 1 and a 1/2 dedicated pourers, and 1 guy that just seemed to do nothing but bussing. Seemed overkill for a small tap room that doesn't serve food. How hard can it be to bus empty glass ware? The other thing is the single-use bathroom. Lines can get pretty bad as it's just 1 person at a time in the bathroom.

Now to some positive aspects. Beer selection was great and despite their poor services, bar tenders were at least knowledgeable. 3 types of Yeti (Yeti, Oak Aged, Chocolate Oak Aged) along with pretty much everything else you could think of. Grand Cru was on tap and I didn't even know they had a Grand Cru! I just had a sample, but it seemed like it would be a good beer. A bit on the sweet side for my tastes.

Overall worth a visit. They don't take American Express, and don't expect much service unless you're hanging wads of cash out of your zipper.

05-16-2011 20:04:13 | More by AWolfAtTheDoor