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Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale - Spice/Herb/Vegetable

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 Percentile 
66
overall
Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing (Ontario)
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable

Etobicoke, Canada

bottled
available

on tap
available

Local Distribution
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 Ratings  Average  Score  Seasonal  ABV  Style Pctl  Serve in 
563.29/5.03.23/5.0Winter6.2%70.8Lager glass, Tumbler
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Commercial Description:
Inspired by the long, cold and seemingly endless Canadian winter, our 6.2% alcohol Winter Ale is a true winter warmer. Handcrafted with specialty hops and malts, combined with generous amounts of cinnamon, honey, ginger and orange peel, this unique beer is brimming with flavour.
 Most Recent Top Raters Highest Ratings Who's Rated This?  
 MartinT (5030), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
3.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/103/513/20
May 24, 2009  
My Bottom Line:
Omnipresent cinnamon and orange peel control this very spicy Christmas brew, somewhat alleviated though by soft frothiness and hoppy bitterness.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A veil of foam tops the lightly hazy red.
-This is still quite drinkable even though the spices are a tad overused.
-The body is pretty lean; a few more dextrins might have helped ground these spices.<br< -This might be a nice novelty item for neophytes, but I don’t see it reaching too many craft beer lovers’ hearts anytime soon. But that’s just me.

Bottle.


 Cletus (5002), Connecticut, USA
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/103/57/103/514/20
Dec 24, 2008  
Bottle courtesy of matt7215. Pours mahogany with a white head. Smells of dark fruit, citrus, light spice. Tastes sweet and spicy with some peppery hints on the finish.


 Lubiere (4464), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
3.1 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/56/102/512/20
Jun 6, 2008  
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.


 Sammy (3934), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/104/515/20
Dec 11, 2006  
A full mouthfeel malty concoction, spices and citrus are quite the secondary. Fresh, I was the first on Ralph’s tap and nice drinking,


 Radek Kliber (3926), Toronto (Can) Krotoszyn (Pol), Ontario, Canada
3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/103/512/20
Dec 14, 2006  
Bottle.
Gold amber with light brown, medium creamy top.
Aroma: creamy, milky with berry and fruits. Sweet.
Spiced with ginger, vanilla extract and nutmeg. Medium bodied. Decent attempt on holiday theme. Its good local breweries expanding their repertoire.


 HogTownHarry (3922), Toronto (Harbourfront), Ontario, Canada
3.4 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/57/104/514/20
Dec 16, 2006  
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)


 jerc (3861), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3.5 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
7/104/57/103/514/20
Dec 27, 2006    Updated: Dec 19, 2007
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


 blankboy (3165), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3 Aroma Appearance Flavor Palate Overall
6/103/56/103/512/20
Dec 15, 2006  
Bottle shared with the gang at Decemberfest 2006 -- courtesy of Ralph. Pours a clear dark amber-orange with a small diminishing white head. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, fruit and Xmas spices. Sweet flavour of malt and spices. Medium bodied. Pretty good but a little too sweet for me.



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