The Denver brewery bought the system as a way to allow its brewers to experiment with one-off beers, special releases and new recipes. The equipment complements Great Divide's existing fifty-barrel system, with which it brews all of its other beers.
See also - Great Divide joins growing list of brewers using fresh Colorado hops - Great Divide initiates sour beer program, will unveil two brews during GABF - Great Divide adds a pilot brewing system for small-batch, experimental beers
"For a long time, we had a reputation for making good stuff on a regular basis, but not much when it came to experimental beers," says Great Divide spokeswoman Hanna Laney. "The brewery with the pilot system is a whole different world, and it gives us the ability to try something new."
Or a lot of something new.
The half-tap takeover (Great Divide has sixteen taps total), which runs from 2 to 10 p.m., will showcase a Belgian-style tripel; an India pale lager; a schwarzbier; an oaked, smoked dunkelweiss; an altbier; a hefeweizen; Baby Yeti, a 3.2 percent ABV version of the brewery's signature stout; and Baby Hercules, a similarly low-alcohol IPA. Try a pint or order a $1 taster of each; all of Great Divide's taster proceeds go to charity.
Great Divide has made numerous other beers on the system, including a couple of sours (which may appear during the Great American Beer Festival), a new fresh-hop beer and the initial runs of its most recent bottled beer, Wolfgang.
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