Generally speaking, I love everything Great Divide does, particularly their Yeti line of beers. Late last year I tried their Chocolate Raspberry Yeti Imperial Stout and given that I went into it thinking I'd hate it, they convinced me otherwise.

I pretty much gave it away in the title, but let's see how another two Yeti beers, namely the Peanut Butter Yeti Imperial Stout and the Big Yeti, fare.

Peanut Butter Yeti Imperial Stout

As I cracked open a can of Peanut Butter Yeti Imperial Stout I was of two minds: I thought I'd hate it, but as with the Chocolate Raspberry, I thought if anyone could make this work it's Great Divide.

And it almost did.

The color is a deep brown-black and the head even looks like peanut butter. The smell is absolutely amazing -- it's literally like sticking your nose in a jar of peanut butter.

Even the flavor is great, but only at first. The initial taste is a rich and smooth mix of peanut butter and dark maltiness ... but then the finish wrecks it all with an overwhelming grain bitterness bordering on astringency.

If this was "just a stout" that high bitterness from the dark grains might be expected and even welcomed. But From the aroma and the initial taste you're thinking this is going to be a smooth-drinking experience, but then suddenly it isn't.

This one didn't work for me, and it's maybe all the more disappointing since it was so close. But in the end it's out of balance and the finish ruins it.

So dumping that one, we move on to the Big Yeti.

Big Yeti

It's right there in the name but this is a BIG beer indeed, coming in at 13.3%. I'm not averse to a high-alcohol sipper and figured this would be like the regular Yeti I really enjoy, just more.

And it was more, but here again the bittnerness in the finish was overwhelming and ultimately very off-putting for me.

It looks great, it smells amazing, and the flavor is a wonderful chocolate maltiness with a bit of dark fruit and vanilla, but then the bitterness in the finish detracts from it all.

Maybe it's my expectations that were off. Given that it's a 13% beer maybe I was expecting more barley wine-style flavors and warming instead of the Yeti stout with everything turned way up.

And don't get me wrong, I truly enjoy enjoy a good stout -- including the regular Yeti -- with a fair amount of roasty bitterness. But this is just too much to be enjoyable for me.

So, Great Divide, I still love most of what you do. But for this beer drinker, these two just don't work well.