Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

On tap at Volo, courtesy of Hogtown Harry, celebrating the birth of my son (thanks for the pint Harry). Wonderful spicy aroma, really reminded me of the Anchor Christmas beer. Dark brown body, medium white head. Lots of malt sweetness and tons of spice in really nice taste. Formidable body to back everything up (a pleasant surprise from these Lager folks), this beer was a bang on version of a solid Winter Warmer. Congrats Great Lakes on your fine achievement, I look forward to having it again next Winter.

Pours amber. Interesting smell of cinnamon and spice, with a similar taste. Not bad for the winter time.

Draught. Dark mahogany with a small white head. Toasty almost smoky aroma with some sweet, earthy toffee malt. Nice flavour with moderate carbonation - plenty of caramel, spice, and roast flavour. Pretty good for a brewery that is otherwise uninteresting. Also worth mentioning that this is far better on tap than it is from the bottle.
Tasted at Volo on January 12, 2007.

Pours a light brown with caramel colored head. Aroma has a hint of cinammon which mimicks the taste. Finishes smooth with little aftertaste. A nice seasonal ale.

On tap Smokeles Joes. sweet malts and cinnamin, definate spice nose, flavour agrrees with nose,malty kinda sticky on the palate not bad

December 2007. Draft at C;est What. Ruby brown body with a small off white / beige head. Sweet spicy flavour with a nutmeg (?) starter, with a lingering cinnamon finish. Sweet underlying malt charact. Softly spicy aroma with a sweet spicy profile reminiscent of pumpkin pie or ginger bread. Spice builds on the tongue as you quaff, and lingers long into the aftertaste. Palate is on the fuller side of average. (3+) Very nice, flavourful yet quite drinkable as well. 7/3/7/3+/15 - 3.5 <P>December 2006. Draft at C’est What. Ruddy brown with a small tan head and decent lacing (3+). Sweet malt aroma with muted spice. ( a bit like a less pungent Anchor OSA. I thought nutmeg but based on the description I guess it was cinnamon and ginger) Similar flavour, moderately sweet malt has very lightly earthy notes and moderate spice character. Average palate. Pretty solid quaff, but could use a bit more depth to take it to the next level. 7/4/7/3/14 - 3.5

Bottle shared with a bunch of folks at DougShoemaker’s Decemberfest 2006 - courtesy of R. Dark ruby-amber with a small head. Aroma of malt, banana, orange zest, brown sugar and a bit on cinnamon - quite nice. Flavour is sweet but not cloying - some fruitcake and licorice notes. As with their Devil’s Pale Ale, it could be a little more aggressive, but it’s still another great step forward for these guys - onwards & upwards!

Bottle (650ml). at Decemberfest 2006 - R’s bottle. Poured clear ruby with a small tan head. Pleasing, fresh aroma of generic grainy roast malt, caramel, mild peppery sweet spice. The taste was much the same, only the sweet spice didn’t emerge as much as I’d hoped - mostly just light roast malt. The mouthfeel was entirely "ehh" - not overly watery, but unimpressive body, a little sweeter than I’d like - it could use either more alcohol or more yeast/spice ... but an excellent step in the right direction for this brewery. ** update - had this again on draught at Volo and it came through with more body and bolder spice character - I’m re-rating and boosting its score (was 6+3+6+3+11=2.9)