Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

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

Draught. The beer is a dark amber with a small, fluffy head. It has a fruitcake aroma; there is cinnamon, pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, plenty of orange zest, candied cherries, molasses. Smells good. There is a very small amount of lacing on the glass. The flavour is full of molasses, toffee, raisin leading to some clove, ginger, then candied fruit in the finish.

Pours a mahogany brown with thin shortly lived white head. The aroma is cinnamon, cinnamon, cinna-buns, and cinnamon. .... . maybe a little bit of citrus, ginger, and orange in there too. The flavour is a pretty straight forward reflection of the aroma, tons of cinnamon, more cinnamon than I have ever tasted in a beer.........I like cinnamon, so this beer works for me. A little citrus mixed with cinnamon in the finish. A little too fizzy on the tongue, not super complex, but interesting and drinkable.

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.

Great amber colour with spicy aromas. Taste is orange with cinnamon and spices. Great beer for a cold blistery day.

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

650 ml bottle from LCBO. Pours a clear cark orange/brown with decent-sized tan head. Lots of cinnamon in the nose with some caramel and citrus. Flavour is also predominantly cinnamon with some ginger and light citrus. Don’t remember the cinnamon being so overwhelming in past years versions. Still alright, but remember it being better.

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.

750 ml bottle sampled at Grand River Brewing tasting. Pours dark amber in colour, some head, leaving little lacing behind. Medium carbonation. Not much aroma, maybe cardomon? Light spicy flaour, some ginger and strong cinnamon taste. Light for a winter ale.