Great Divide Brewing Company

Great Divide Brewing Company
Industry Alcoholic beverage
Founded 1994
Founder Brian Dunn
Headquarters Denver, Colorado, USA
Products Beer
Website http://www.greatdivide.com

Great Divide Brewing Company was founded by Brian Dunn in 1994 in Denver, Colorado, USA.[1] Three months after brewing its first batch of beer, it won the first of the brewery's twelve Great American Beer Festival and four World Beer Cup awards.[2] By 2007, Great Divide was ranked by RateBeer.com as the 23rd best brewery in the world with three of the world's top 100 beers. In December 2008, Beer Advocate magazine ranked them as the seventh best brewery on the planet.

The brewery

Servers at Great Divide tasting room.

Due to a 45% increase in sales in 2007, the brewery was forced to expand. In September 2008, Great Divide opened a new brewery that tripled its production. At the same time, they changed the art on all of their labels.[3] The brewery's current branding is marked by sensationalized silhouette depictions of the region from which a particular beer originated (for instance, the sexualized female farmhand featured on the farmhouse ale Colette's label) and irreverent humor, as marked by the Imperial Stout Yeti's, "I believe." campaign.

The beers

Great Divide, corner of Arapahoe and 22nd Street

Great Divide Brewing Company was founded with the notion of brewing strong beers, which are defined as having an alcohol content greater than 7%. Six of the thirteen beers made by Great Divide in 2006 exceeded this threshold, and one, Old Ruffian, has over 10.2% alcohol content, which is twice that of America's top selling beer Budweiser.[4] “I also think that brewers like to sell the beer that they like to drink." Dunn said, "And as people who can and do drink beer all day long, it’s obviously more interesting for us to drink big beers that are long on flavor and complexity.”[4]

In 1997, Great Divide beer was used in the NBC miniseries Asteroid..[5] In 2000, Denver chef Bill Clifford made a Braised DPA Lamb Shank for the White House Tree Lighting Ceremony.[6] When Invesco Field, the home of the Denver Broncos, opened in 2001, Great Divide's Denver Pale Ale (DPA) was one of only three craft beers selected to be sold at the stadium. Dunn indicated that Denver Pale Ale was selected because it had won more national and international awards than any other Colorado beer.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Roger Fillion Craft 'with a lot of satisfaction' Popular hobby contributes to state's economy Rocky Mountain News, June 15, 2007. Accessed 1/9/09
  2. ↑ Great Divide History
  3. ↑ Great Divide Completes Major Brewery Expansion Sept 4, 2008. Accessed 1/9/09
  4. 1 2 Hamaker, Brooks (November 26, 2005). "Dark Lord, Alimony Ale, Old Ruffian: Here Are the Brawling Beers". The New York Times.
  5. ↑ Norm Clarke Talk of the Town Rocky Mountain News Feb 16, 1997. Accessed 1/9/09
  6. ↑ Great Divide Ale to be served at White House. Modern Brewery Age 27 Nov 00. Accessed 1/9/09
  7. ↑ Great Divide gets coveted beer slot at Mile High.(Great Divide Brewing Co. Denver Pale Ale) Modern Brewery Age 27 Aug 2001. Accessed 1/1/09
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