Great Lakes Brewing Orange Peel Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing (Ontario)
Style: Fruit Beer
Etobicoke, Canada

A silk screened bottle wrapped in an orange foil cap. This beer pours deep amber, leading to a decelt frothy white cap, The lacing is steady, and nice looking. The aroma is subtle orange peel, caramel, lemon zest, wheat, some burnt malts. Pretty sweet, yet enjoyable while sitting on my patio in summer heat. Very citric and acidic, some wheat, bread crust, rye bread, suragy koolaid. Pretty refreshing. The hops are here and so are the malts. Finishes bitterly with hops, citrus, and semi sweet from sugary malts.Very good. This is a good effort from this brewer, but from thier scores, it seems Ontario raters are not behind. Shame on you.

Bomber from the LCBO, shared with Phil, served cold in a tulip glass. MA11/07.

App.: Deep golden, clear, medium-full, off-white head, some lacing. Aroma: Sweet caramel/toffee malts, some citrus notes – like C-hops minus the bite; light peach/apricot fruitiness, light butterscotch. Palate: Medium body, somewhat silky smooth, medium carbonation. Flav.: An assault of orange hard candy with other citrus notes – maybe some lime and grapefruit; malt is slightly biscuity but very much in the background; dry, mild bitterness; finishes with cereal and the nasty orange flavour hangs around.

No way. If I want orange flavour, I’ll add a slice to my wheat beer.

Not a bad beer at all. Was expecting something fruity but this one is not too pronounce.

Strong golden colour, with a thin fizzy head. Weak honey and orange aroma with even weaker notes of nuts. A relativley well balanced beer, enjoyable, and refreshing with a orange flavored finish. Interesting beer, but I probably won’t buy it that often/

Very light orange, mostly just deep gold. Little fizzy white head. Nose of grass, traces of honey and some orange oil along with a bit of tangerine hop. The body is a little thin, but being lighter is what they were going for with the season. The flavour is more or less like an amber ale with the some American Hop influence. The strongest point this beer provides is that it isn’t terribly sweet, not tasting like orange syrup was added to the beer afterward. It’s hard to fault but it’s not an earth shattering experience either. It is balanced, modestly spiced, and in the end tastes nice. Certainly there are other notable beers that taste more "orangey" which do not advertise that fact. I am guessing that this will probably be redirected into the fruit beer category at some point. Like many others I’m sure that the attractive bottle sold this.

This was a good example of why most ales should not be ice-cold to get the full flavour value. From a bottle, first drink was nothing special, tasted honey more than orange, nothing in aroma and finished more like a crisp lager. Walked away from the glass for 7 or 8 minutes and tried again. Definitely got the orangey kick on after taste, pleasant not too much. Nice orangey/light amber colour with great head retension. May buy again, but it won’t be my summer session beer.

Draught @ West 50, Mississauga, ON: The folks at West 50 pumped this guy up quite a bit; no fewer than three employees billed it as a great beer. Mind you, they were also suggesting Rickard’s White, so perhaps I got what I deserved? Came orange/brown in colour, almost no head, and an aroma of off-putting malt and alcohol. Four at our table tried it, not a single one of us could detect any orange. In fact, we were almost positive they’d poured us the wrong brew. Turns out they hadn’t. Great Lakes is rapidly joining Trafalgar in my "don’t bother trying" pile of GTA beers. Boo-urns.

On tap at C’est What. Was expecting more orange flavor but I like the balance they achieved. Fairly refreshing beer but not a big fan of the spicy hops and yeast notes. Cheers!