Night of the Yeti at The Bavarian Lodge

As winter’s icy grip envelops the Chicago area with winds and heavy snowfall, sightings of Great Divide’s Legendary Yeti Imperial Stout and its three siblings begin to permeate the air. Driven by our thirst for this robust imperial stout we strap our snowshoes on and make the trek to The Bavarian Lodge for their aptly named “Night of the Yeti.”  The Bavarian Lodge has scoured their cellar to provide patrons with the opportunity to experience all four Yeti variants side be side. At 4 pm, doors opened, and within 20 or so minutes a dozen fearless beer geeks had navigated the abominable snow storm and bellied up to the bar.

Yeti Nation!

For just about everyone in attendance, the Yeti flight seemed to be the first move of the night . We decided to start with the Oak Aged Yeti, which ended up being the overall favorite among our group. A toasted marshmallow head rests atop an opaque black body with a slightly brown tone. In fact, all four stouts were nearly identical in color and were only visually distinguishable by the color and consistency of their head.

The Oak Aged Yeti has a very well blended roasted malt, oak, and bitter chocolate flavor profile that is very robust and layered, while having an almost creamy smooth mouth feel and drink-ability.

Great Divide’s Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti is the newest member of the Yeti family. Like all four varieties, this one clocks in at 9.5% abv. This stout has a dry, roasted, dark chocolate flavor that finishes with a hint of cayenne pepper, similar to a chipotle porter.

Very closely related to the Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti, the Espresso Yeti, which has no head, has a slightly sweeter flavor profile that finishes with a somewhat bitter coffee finish.

Yeti Flight

The most interesting of the four was the hybrid Belgian Yeti. This stout is the same recipe as the standard Yeti except a Belgian yeast strain is used. This imparts a musty “Belgian Style” funk that gives this stout a delicate and fragile nature unlike its brethren.

Satisfied after having experienced all four of Great Divide’s Yeti stouts, we headed back into the frozen tundra convinced that this winter storm and the Night of the Yeti were no mere coincidence.