Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing (Ontario)
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Etobicoke, Canada

750ml bottle from the LCBO The aroma is amazing sweet and spicy smells like Christmas cloves cinnamon honey and orange Pours a nice dark coppery brown with a small tan head Now it is really too bad it does not taste as good as it smells having said that it is still not bad it is a little thin the finish and a bit too flowery for me

Christmas-pudding-like dark brown. Aromas of cinnamon, raisin, honey, ginger ale and brown sugar. Palate initially begins rich and warm, but cools off quickly and finishes a little watery and thin. Flavour begins with spice-infused brown sugar, leading to a mild alcohol bitterness and a disappointingly short finish. A good brew, but a bigger malt body and finish would have really helped fill this out better.

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.