Hey Day

Since 1994 Great Divide has been making high quality craft beers from the same location in the LoDo part of Denver. Even though they have a great lineup of flagship and signature beers people still look forward to their seasonal offerings. But what we really look forward to is when they release a new beer altogether, and in 2013 we have been lucky enough to see two brand new beers from this iconic brewery. In January there was Orabelle, a Belgian style Trippel that was full on flavor, but most recently in April a new Belgian Style White Ale was released called Hey Day, and here are our tasting notes from one of Colorado’s newest beers.

After a gentle pour into a traditional pint glass with a decent head it became clearly obvious that this was going to be a very light beer. The light straw color with white head makes this a light beer that lends itself to the season. The cloudy appearance shows that this a unfiltered beer, true to style. This led to an aroma that fans of Belgian beers will love, as the strong smell of yeast hit the nose. Underneath the strong scent of yeast was the subtle smell of citrus that added a nice acidic note to the aroma. If the aroma was any indication this beer had the potential to have a strong flavor profile to it.

After first sip the flavor profile was a great replica of the aroma, but with a few more complexities added into it. For a beer so light in color it had a body much heavier than one would expect, and this can be attributed to the prominent yeast flavor. It creates such a strong flavor that hits the tongue on all levels but it does not make the beer so strong in one flavor profile that it becomes hard to drink. The richness of the yeast is cut by a very subtle citrus flavor that adds a much needed note of acidity and there is also a hint of spice that adds complexities. This all leads into the aftertaste that finishes fairly clean but does leave a small hint of the yeast flavor lingering around. It is not so overpowering that you wouldn’t want another sip, just prominent enough to make you crave another sip to enjoy the layers of flavor this ale has.

But what ultimately makes this unique beer so good is the wide appeal it will have to the beer drinkers out there. Fans of craft beer will enjoy the complexities that it offers, and at 5.2% ABV it is a great session beer and perfect for the warming weather. On the flip side it is a great beer to introduce the new fans of craft beer as it is a high quality version of 2 mainstream Belgian style white ales, and it will only help to expose them to the other styles of Belgian beers out there in the Colorado craft beer scene. But for those that are already huge fans of craft beer we will love it because after 19 years of serving high quality beers the fact that Great Divide is still able to put out new, great beers time after time only goes to solidify why they are one of the most iconic breweries in all of Colorado. Whether it be at the tap room, or in a 6 pack Hey Day is a must try, it will be enjoyable in this spring weather, and it will make us look forward to what could be coming out next as well.

Is there a brewery you want us to try, or a new beer we have to try? Let us know at https://www.facebook.com/MileHighBrews