Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

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

Draught at Bar Volo - came a deep amber brown, with a small tan head on top. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flavour-wise when I ordered it, but the aroma immediately let me know - cinnamon, spice, darker malts, caramel...anyways, very spicy. The flavour was a much bigger hit of cinnamon off the top, followed by orange, ginger, malt sweetness with only a faint trace of hops in the finish. Nice stuff, but I started to find it a bit too cloying by the later part of the glass. Still, very unique and enjoyable and it’s fantastic to see Great Lakes with this spirit of adventure with their new seasonal brews. I hope it continues on well into the future.

RE RATE FOR 2008 BOTTLING nice balanced enjoyably sweet spice-cake beer with wonderful body and balance - totally worth picking up ---- ORIGINAL RATING / 8 4 7 2 9 = 3.0 --- Bar Volo, Draught. I had no idea this was a spiced ale when I drank it, but I truthfully found it a bit in-my-face. Not the spiciness so much as the overall sense of palate fatigue, from the first sip to the fighting finish. Maybe there is an acidity or a hop type that doesn’t agree with me. The quality is there for sure, this just wasn’t for me.

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

2009-11-12. No notes taken. Found this very drinkable, the spice was well balanced. Ginger is very interesting as it feels like there is a fair bit of it in there, but it blends intriguingly with the other spices in a way that takes you a minute to figure out what it is. Alcohol is basically invisible. Very nice. Draft and Cask at the brewery.

December 2007. 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 character. 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 Draft at Cest What.

December 2006. 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 Draft at Cest What.