16th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA - Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver

Commemorative beers are fun. Mostly it's the one-off rarity of the beer that gives it an exotic flair. Knowing this is probably the first, and last, time you'll have this beer is fun. A lot of breweries do a once-a-year brew to commemorate their anniversary. It's sort of like a birthday beer, a gift from the brewers to you, their loyal drinkers. The story of this bottle of Great Divide's 16th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA really started a year ago when I picked up a bottle of their 15th Anniversary Double IPA. I'd seen those black foil topped bottles a number of times and finally decided I'd give it a shot. I was really surprised how much I liked the rich flavors in that Double IPA. Here we are a year later and I'm excited to try the 16th Anniversary version of that same beer.

Double IPAs are not by favorite style of beer so I was excited to see the 16th Wood Aged Double IPA on shelves and leapt at the chance to try it. The bottle fell to the back of the fridge for several weeks but now that I've found it I decide it's time to finally open it up. I got out my big snifter in an effort to recreate the circumstances that lead to my glowing review of the 15th Double IPA. I poured the 16th into my glass and noticed it was more red than I remember. More than that, it was a gorgeous ruby color that I haven't seen in many beers. It wasn't just amber or red... it was redder than that. Seriously. The head atop this beer was sudsy and white, it left very little lacing and was otherwise forgettable.

The aroma of this beer was a little different than I remember as well. One of the first things that came to mind when I got my nose in the snifter was cherries. I also got plenty of oak and some hops of course, but those cherries stuck with me. I went in for a sip of this beer, looking for those cherries and was instead greeted with a mouthful of oak, malt and the unmistakable flavor of a 10% IPA. That's not to say it wasn't enjoyable, it just wasn't what I was expecting based on what I got from the aroma.

The Great Divide's 16th Anniversary is a dry and spicy Double IPA that has a lot going on in it. It's definitely got a strong ABV that rides on the back of the oak flavor to burn your tastebuds a bit. It's rough around the edges but has a lot going for it. I enjoyed the 16th but not as much as I remember liking the 15th. That's part of the caveat with these commemorative beers... the 15th was a one time beer, even if I still had a bottle of it I couldn't compare the two because of the effect the past 12 months would have had on the 15th.

For anyone looking for to try an interesting Double IPA I'd recommend you pick up a bottle of Great Divide's 16th Anniversary while you can. For a guy who doesn't like many hoppy beers, I really enjoy these oaked Double IPAs, so take that for what it's worth.