Great Divide Brewing Company

Mebuzzard

Colorado

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

I've been here many times, and didn't even know it was on BA. But I guess it is a beer bar...
Small one at that, but a nice destination if you want good beer, a variety, and a friendly service. The crowd is always nice. Of course, they're beer lovers, why would they not be nice? Nothing else is served here but GD beers. I think the place holds about 25-30 inside, with a strip of tables outside.
Staff is always nice and friendly. Beers are poured in appropriate glasses and they do brewery tours quite regularly.
Parking used to be free just behind them, but I think it's changed since. I usually walk there, so I haven't paid much attention.
No food (that I know of) there. Occasionally they'll have a release party and provide some munchies.

EDIT: They've added more taps for a total of 16. Their expansion continues...

02-23-2010 21:46:21 | More by Mebuzzard

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

LittleDon

Texas

3.8/5  rDev -8.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $

Small taproom with all Great Divide beers (and only GD beers) at dirt cheap prices.

With all of the choices of taprooms and beer bars in Denver, you could spend weeks without going to the same one twice. If you enjoy GD beers, this place is a must. While the inside is small, it is comfortable. Bare bones bar and seating on the inside, a few tables outside for the smokers. Service is good and the beer is fresh. Best of all are the $3 pours (between 12 and 16 oz, depending on selection). Worth a return visit.

09-13-2011 21:32:03 | More by LittleDon

ndolover

Minnesota

4.33/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

I visited Great Divide during GABF week, so I'm not sure that your observations will be the same.

Located north of the LoDo area, in a wharehouse slightly run down area. However, they have a TON of space to brew and allow customers to roam.

A LARGE tap list of all GDB beers. They also have a fridge of crazy good special release beers just to the right as you enter.

The place smells awesome and I highly reccomend a tour.

It has kind of a industrial feel, but the bartenders are nice and knowledgable. If you are in the Denver area I would reccomend that you stop by.

10-07-2011 14:27:30 | More by ndolover

StonedTrippin

Colorado

4/5  rDev -3.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

taproom on a thursday afternoon around 3pm. packed at the bar and took a little while to get noticed, but the beer was fantastic! belgian yeti lively on tap and a baltic smoked porter. full glasses for 4 bucks each is pretty damn reasonable. really neat big windows through to the brew room so you can watch the workers and check out the barrels etc. (one curious barrel marked "sour - 1/15/2011"... hmmmm). cool to just sit and watch. main complaint was the lousy pop music playing at a high volume. really took away from the vibe, but with all those beers fresh on tap at a decent price, i will be back. parking was also a bit seedy, so that is one minor drawback as well

10-30-2011 23:50:28 | More by StonedTrippin

Rayek

Colorado

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

I've been a regular at the GD Tap Room since last summer and wish I'd started going sooner. It's really a great place to relax and grab a beer after work.

Where to begin? I'll get one thing out of the way first. Food is limited to chips, pretzels and nuts. If you want more, come to one of the monthly beer and cheese pairings, which are a blast.

The room itself is pretty small. There's an L shaped bar that seats perhaps a dozen people. In the far corner are a couple of high tables, and along the exterior wall is a long counter with perhaps another dozen seats. There are small windows behind the bar that look out into the brewery. For special events, they bring in extra tables and set them up inside the brewery itself. On nice days, you can sit outside on the patio.

All the GD beers that are in season are available. There are eight taps, and anything that isn't on the taps that day is available in bottles. There are also occasional Tap Room only releases, and sometimes you can catch something on tap before it's bottled and hits the stores.

Being just down the street from the baseball stadium, things get busy and tight on game days. The rest of the time, it's usually pretty mellow.

One of my favorite things is being able to get up to four tasters for free. If I walk in and don't know what I'm in the mood for, it's nice to be able to line up a few beers and decide which one I want a full pint of.

Pricing is comparable to area brewpubs. Beer prices drop by a dollar during happy hour on week nights. The staff has always been friendly and efficient.

All in all, I feel pretty lucky having the Tap Room as a go to spot to grab a beer after a long day. Here's hoping they never move out of downtown.

01-31-2010 05:42:18 | More by Rayek

ferrari29

Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $

Walking into Great Divide I was not immediately impressed with the overall setup of the place. It's kind of small, and the bar takes up a lot of the space in the front room. We had a chance to take a took of the facility, which is again, pretty small compared to some of the other breweries I have visited in the past. But the staff was extremely knowledgeable, and at the time they were very excited about the million dollar bottling machine they purchased. Having that bottling machine meant they could increase production and meet the growing demand in US & Japan. With all that work I find it hard to believe that every GD brew comes out of that facility, but it does. For that I applaud the owners and workers on a job well done. Another thing sparked my interest is the fact that everyone strolls into work on a bike. I'm floored by the fact that people do that, since I work in downtown Chicago and deal with traffic all day. They also had a sincere appreciation for what they did and you can tell from the looks on their faces that they loved their job quite a bit. Great stuff.

After taking the tour, the bartender shared with my wife and I a wide selection of beers they had on tap for the weekend, Hoss, Titan IPA, Hades, Yeti, Hercules Double IPA, and Wild Raspberry Ale (one of my favorites). As you can tell we had quite a few brews but it made for a great occasion, especially when we got our tab. It was only $16.00. I also bought a bottle of 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA. It was a a great beer!

It's also located in a great area, down the street from Coors Field. We made our way over to watch a really good game between the Rockies and the Pirates. So that made for quite a pleasurable experience. Overall good town, good facility and great beer!

11-05-2010 22:14:56 | More by ferrari29

nickd717

California

4/5  rDev -3.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | $

Nice little tasting room located very close to downtown Denver. I visited during GABF 2009 when it was super-packed, but I can't hold that against the place because I'm sure that's not how it usually is. The place is pretty small though, so it doesn't take a lot of people to crowd it. At least when I was there, there was a little outdoor area with some chairs and tables set up. I can't say I'm a HUGE fan of Great Divide's beers - they're a bit overrated in my opinion with the exception of the Yetis and a few others - but this is a good place to visit if you're in town for GABF or something else. The tap selection is decent, but not quite as good as I had hoped. I think there was only one Yeti on tap: the standard one. Some bottles available, but not a huge range. Nothing out of season. Brewery tour is all right, pretty similar to other tours. People working there seemed nice, and service is good. I'll probably be back the next time I make it to GABF. Reasonable pricing, samples available.

02-19-2010 18:08:00 | More by nickd717

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

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