Great Divide Brewing Company was founded by Brian Dunn in 1994 in Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, USA. Three months after brewing its first batch of beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

, it won the first of the brewery's twelve Great American Beer Festival

Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival is a three-day annual event hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado, in mid to late September or early October. This year, 2011, the festival runs from 29 September through 1 October. The GABF brings visitors from around the world to sample more...

 and four World Beer Cup

World Beer Cup

The World Beer Cup, known as "The Olympics of Beer Competition", is one of several major international beer competitions. It was founded by Association of Brewers President Charlie Papazian....

 awards. 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

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.

The beers

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. “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.”

When Invesco Field, the home of the Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, opened in 2001, Great Divide's Denver Pale Ale

India Pale Ale

India Pale Ale or IPA is a style of beer within the broader category of pale ale. It was first brewed in England in the 19th century.The first known use of the expression "India pale ale" comes from an advertisement in the Liverpool Mercury newspaper published January 30, 1835...

(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. In 2000, Denver chef Bill Clifford made a Braised DPA Lamb Shank for the White House Tree Lighting Ceremony. In 1997, Great Divide beer was used in the NBC miniseries Asteroid.

Recent awards

Beer	Competition	Category	Year	Place
Hercules Double IPA	Australian International Beer Awards		2008	Silver Medal
Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout	Australian International Beer Awards	Wood Aged Beer	2008	Silver Medal
Titan IPA	Australian International Beer Awards	Indian Pale Ale	2008	Silver Medal
Hercules Double Pale Ale	Australian International Beer Awards		2007	Gold Medal
Hibernation Ale	US Beer Tasting Championship	Old/Strong Ale	Winter 2007	Regional Champion
Old Aged Yeti Imperial Stout	European Beer Star	Stout	Nuremberg 2007	Silver Medal
Old Aged Yeti Imperial Stout	Australian International Beer Awards	Wood Aged Beer	2007	Bronze Medal
St Bridget's Porter	Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival	Porter/stout	2007	Silver Medal
Samurai	US Beer Tasking Championship	Golden Ale/Kolsch	Summer 2007	Best of the Rockies
Titan IPA	European Beer Star	Indian Pale Ale	Nuremberg 2007	Silver Medal
Titan IPA	Australian International Beer Awards	Indian Pale Ale	2007	Silver Medal
Titan IPA	US Beer Tasking Championship	Indian Pale Ale	Summer 2007	Best of the Rockies
Wild Raspberry Ale	US Beer Tasting Championship	Fruit Beer	Summer 2007	Best of the Rockies
Wild Raspberry Ale	US Beer Tasting Championship	Fruit Beer	Summer 2007	Best of the Rockies
Yeti Imperial Stout	US Beer Tasting Championship	Imperial Stout	Winter 2007	Regional Champion
Denver Pale Ale	Great American Beer Festival	Classic English-Style Pale Ale	2006	Bronze Medal
Denver Pale Ale	US Beer Tasting Championship	Pale Ale	Summer 2006	Best of the Rockies/Southwest
Hercules Double IPA	International Beer C0.		2006	Worlds 50 Best Beers
Hibernation Ale	Great American Beer Festival	Aged Beer	2006	Silver Medal
Old Ruffian Barley Wine	Great American Beer Festival	Barley Wine	2006	Gold Medal
Old Ruffian Barley Wine	US Beer Tasting Championship	Barley Wine	Winter 2006	Grand Champion
Old Ruffian Barley Wine	US Beer Tasting Champion	Barley Wine	Winter 2005	Regional Champion
Old Ruffian Barley Wine	Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival	Barley Wine	2006	Honorable Mention
Titan IPA	Stockholm Beer Festival		2006	Bronze Medal
Yeti Imperial Stout	US Beer Tasting Championship	Imperial Stout	Winter 2006	Honorable Mention