Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

Pours a nice deep bronze to copper colour with a very nicely proportioned off white head, which does not quite last like it might. Nose is...interesting, I do not know quite how to describe it. It might be sort of like honey, but there is a little bit of spice in there too. Very interesting. Flavour is a lot more like beer, but the finish is highly interesting! It starts out pretty nicely like toffee and nice malts, but quickly moves towards black pepper and finishes up very ginger. There may well be some cinnamon in there somewhere. Nice and full in the mouth, but frankly, as interesting as the flavour may be, it is a bit strong, and it would not exactly be a pleasant beer to drink more than one of.

750 ml bottle from the LCBO. pours deep amber with a short lived white head. nice lacings. aromas are spices with honey and pale malt. flavours are spice driven with some malty sweetness and noticable honey addition. very drinkable, almost dangerous at 6.2%. i dont kno why these guys get such a rough rep around here but this is another solid effort buy this brewery.

750mL bottle from the LCBO. Pours a deep dark copper colour with a medium beige head. Aroma is very faint, and weird, almost like this thing was infected, with some mild Yule-tidy spices coming through. The flavour makes up for the unimpressive aroma. Lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, citrusy rind, and a decent malt backbone, though not as strong as I was hoping. Very dry finish due to the cinnamon. Enjoyable, and not as obnoxious as other spiced-up ales I’ve had.

Bottle in gift pack. Reddy-brown colour, with high carbonation and a quickly receeding off-white head. Aroma is very nice....fruity with spicey winter tea/sugar plum notes. Flavour is similar with ginger and cinnamon overtop cakey malts. Just enough hops to balance it all out. Mouthfeel a little thin, but an otherwise very nice offering.

On tap at Volo, just a half pint this time - notes of cinnamon on the nose, exceptionally smooth, pleasant mouthfeel, perfect for the time of year back in February.

A dark brown ale with reddish hues and a light moka head. Aroma of caramel, roasted nuts and aniseed. In mouth, sweetish coffee, light metallic hops, licorice. Overall, rather light and watery body. Not bad but would gain at being a bit richer in body. Bottle from LCBO, gift pack with glass.

750 ml bottle-Deep ruby/mahogany letting some light in. Head is frothy and long lived. Not much lace. Spices(cinnamon) and floral notes(rose petal) fill the nose and are alongside caramel malts, toffee, and Christmas fruit cake. Sweet caramel malts show and so do spicy, dark fruits with subtle hopping. Medium body, spicy, bitter-sweet finish. Good.

Mahogany in colour, thin beige coloured head, very light lacing. The aroma is of light spices, some brown sugar sweetness, dark fruits. The flavour is only lightly spiced, some chocolate sweetness, didn’t pick up on any citrus. Lightly bitter mouthfeel, light body, high carbonation. Finishes with small amounts of spice, lingering, fizzy. Not to bad but I do like my winter beers to pack a bit more of a punch.

750ml bottle given to me by <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=39166 target=blank>The Jester, thanks Andy.
Opened on November 18, 2007.
Winter 2007.