Great Divide Denver Pale Ale
*** This recipe has been retired. Rate the other Denver Pale Ale (2016-) ***
DPA has risen to become one of the most award-winning English-style pale ales in the world. Sporting a brilliant copper hue and an assertive floral hop aroma, DPA is known for its smooth, malty middle, which is expertly complemented with hearty and complex hop flavor. DPA’s extraordinary hop finish is marked by crisp yet moderate hop bitterness.
DPA has risen to become one of the most award-winning English-style pale ales in the world. Sporting a brilliant copper hue and an assertive floral hop aroma, DPA is known for its smooth, malty middle, which is expertly complemented with hearty and complex hop flavor. DPA’s extraordinary hop finish is marked by crisp yet moderate hop bitterness.
3.3
1033 reviews
Denver, United States
Community reviews
Poured from a 12 oz brown bottle into Spieglau IPA glass, a medium orange amber with deep and persistent off-white foam, lots of fine lace. Intensely malty with some great caramelly/biscuity/nutty complexity AND very hoppy with extreme fruitiness. Mango, apricot, lemongrass, lime zest, and I sh!t you not: some alchemy which tasted exactly like Fruit Loops breakfast cereal. Light-medium body, strong carbonation, crisp grainy mouthfeel, just a little residual sweetness, multi-layered hoppy aftertastes which eventually finished surprisingly dry. I guess the "English-style" refers to the maltbill, because the dominant hop impression is definitely New World. A tasty and memorable pale ale, whatever the case.
Nice hazy pale amber color, almost no head. Subtle aroma, floral hops and bread. Smooth malty flavor. Okay.
This has always been a standby of mine and one of my favorites in an often overlooked category. Pours a deep golden color with a nice foamy head. This looks quintessentially like a normal beer ought to. Smell is bready with some herbal hop notes. This is a very nicely balanced beer, which seems to be a dying trend among pale ales. Very biscuity and malty up front with a good deal of carbonation. Gives way to hops and honey flavors on the back end and a pleasant aftertaste. Not your typical American "Let’s see how many hops we can dump into this and not call it an IPA" pale ale, but refreshingly balanced and worthy of respect.
Brown pour with a respectable tan head. Easy going aroma of herbal hops and doughy breads. Delicious drinking, quite hoppy on top of a caramel/honey malt sweetness. Seems to be an American edge to the hop profile. Smooth mouthfeel and very little alcohol presence.
Pours very hazy browned copper with a nice foamy yellow tan head. Decent lacing. Aroma is very pleasant floral and caramel. Yum. Tastes quite English. Caramel malt focus with decent hop roasty bitterness on the back end. Aftertaste is bitter with malty echoes. Very nice bridge between AIPAs and more malty beers. Sessionable.
Pours a decent amber color with off-white head. Some caramel malt, light pine, and some floral notes on the nose; follows onto the palate. Finishes with just a bit of hop resin.
Has some really good head retention. A nice nose of hops and malt. Has a light resin pine taste with some sweet malts. Pretty cloudy a lot of sediment in the bottle. This is a very palatable and session able beer. Probably drink a wider of this in a sitting.
On tap at Parry's. Pours medium Amber and makes a thin head. Aroma is of sweet caramel. Very light taste and mild hippiness. Good session beer, but not incredibly distinctive.
Bottled over 3 weeks ago pours a light bottle conditioned haze of light copper. Thin head. Aroma has some light sweet caramel malt, light toast malt, mineral, slight floral fruit orange cherry hop. Taste has a distinct English caramel malt,light toast, dry malt. Smooth,slick mouth feel medium/light body minerally orange cherry light tobacco character. Has some peppery herbal type bittering. Tastey with some malty sweetness.
"4 month old bottle (still hope to land a fresher one) but it’s hard to tell if the hops are subdued to to age or the style. GDs signature malt bill is there, which is always nice, though this is a little more maltcentric than i’d prefer. some grapefruit and bitter hops make an appearance, though, and the feel which started thin grew lively. not bad, but not great."
Nice copper pour from the bottle. Nice grass/citrus hop aroma with a smooth drinkable character. Bitter start and finish and ends smoothly. Easy drinker.
Bottle: Cloudy dark gold with a significant head and sticky lacing. Mainly malt aroma with a small amount of wet grass. Definitely rich malts abound. Starts to make you think it’s an ESB, but then stops just short. Truly an English pale ale.
Aroma is fruit, mildly grainy malts and a hint of hops. The flavor is fruit, biscuit malts, mild earthiness and citrus hops/mild bitterness in the finish.
I would actually choose the DPA as my session beer of choice from Great Divide. Mildly hoppy, not overly sweet. A malty backbone.
A floral aroma supported with bread and citrus notes. Pours a cloudy orange-amber with a thin non-lasting white head and no lacing. Small solids were suspended in the liquid. The taste is malty upfront with hints of molasses and bread, but the finish is definately on the hop side of the scale. Citrus, pine, and hop bitterness. Medium body and medium carbonation. Overall, an okay pale ale. Nice juxtaposition of flavors.
Draft at the brewery in Denver. Pours a tan color . Easy drinking flavorful session beer. I'd have it again
bottle sample. poured a slight hazy amber colour with white head. aroma hops, citrus, malts, pines, caramel, spiced finish. bit of a weak bodied mouthfeel.
Bottle. Pours medium small white head, very light carbonation. Citrus notes on nose and pallet.
The body has a slight haze and a faded orange gold color. There is a lot of tight fine carbonation supporting a tall off white head. The head is thick, creamy and long lasting. It also makes lots of cool lacing on the glass as I drink. In the nose there is a mix of modest pale bready malt with some balanced hops. The hops are some what lemony, floral and leafy. The flavor has a good base maltiness with a solid bready and pale grain with a light fruity back note. This hooks up with the hops and brings nice floral and mild lemon like citrus notes with a little herbal/leafy character as well. The hop bitterness takes over in the finish and lingers nicely and begs for some nice salty pretzels.
Poured from 12oz bottle into pint glass: Pours amber with a thin white head. Aroma of light citrus, caramel, and malt sweetness. Taste is mild citrus, resin, caramel, and a little nutty. Medium body, medium carbonation, this is a pretty nice sessionable beer.
Surprisingly citrus-y and nice hop finish. Nice hop aroma and finish. Good session beer.
slightly citrusy hop smell, taste is a bit hoppy with good amount of citrus hop flavor...not too much...perhaps just a bit too much? smooth maltier flavor upon swallowing...finishes hoppier...decent, just a tad too bitter for me...
From the 12 fl. oz. bottle with a bottling date of Feb 27, 2014 back when it was probably snowing and freezing. And now it is May and this has a nice cloudy amber pour with an off-white head that lingers and laces. The caramel malty sweetness comes forward loud and clear in the aroma with any hop bitterness way in the background. It is sweet like the style recommends. The body is medium and smooth. The taste is also quite sweet and roasty with little to no bitterness filling in the blanks. It is a good representation of the style, which is pretty traditional.
Bottled May 15, 2014 (nice). Pours a clear darker gold with a thick beige head that settles to a thick ring and film, leaving lots of hanging, dripping soapy lace. Nose involves some toffee malt notes, subtle floral and spicy hops, and some darker bread character. Fairly sweet, quite bitter. Medium bodied, softer carb, a bit oily, with a bready doughy crisp bitter finish. Well made, drinkable brew. Easygoing, yet has some substance to it.
Bottle from bhensonb. Pours dark amber with a nice off-white head and a bread and toffee aroma. There is a medium-bodied pale malt flavor with moderate hop bitterness. Refreshing and easy to drink.
bottle pour light copper yellow color..slightly hazy when held up to light..nose is combo of rye bread and caramel.bit of sprucy hops..taste is slightly bitter with a not so great honey dominance and a metallic presence..not my cup of tea..
Bottle provided by Liz. Pours clear bright copper with a slight, transient beige head. Aroma is floral with slightly roasty malt. Med body or nearly. Flavor starts roasty malt followed by a low dose of mostly floral hop. It’s bitter and finishing towards dry. Drinking good.
Pours light gold with a huge foaming white pillowy head. Aroma is bready malts and some floral hops. Slightly stale in a way.
bottle. Golden with one finger head. Light malt body with crisp hoppy finish. Light bitterness. Aboverage pale ale.
Pours light gold with a huge foaming white pillowy head. Aroma is bready malts and some floral hops. Also some stale woody earthy notes. Taste is a bit stale, probably my fault for having something a bit dated. Floral notes and bready malts.