Great Lakes Brewing Winter Ale

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

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.

Bottle from the brewery. Deep red/brown pour, with a thin film of a head. Aroma of mulled wine and grated ginger. Initial taste of subtle citric sharpness gives way to traditional mulling spices. A tingle of ginger on the tongue pleasantly finishes off the sip. Strong malt backbone, and very little bitterness. I would recommend starting this one chilled and drinking slowly, as different sides to the beer develop as it warms. Another solid brew from Great Lakes.

Clear brown body, with some carbonation and a foamy light-brown head. Pretty weak head retention. Some strong spiciness in the nose (cinnamon, nutmeg, a bit of clove) as well as some brown sugar and caramel. The taste is also very spicy and not sweet. Some bitterness in the finish and some lingering spiciness. Okay drinkability. Crisp carbonation. A decent winter warmer.

Pours a satisfying deep amber. Aroma is hints of cinnamon and honey, with some sweet fruit thrown in the mix. A cool and spicy palate, with a smooth mouthfeel that gives way to an unusual eucalyptus-and-clove finish. Strong notes of citrus and herbs throughout. Very unique taste. Rather enjoyable one-off holiday brew.

Spicey, pit fruit aroma, auburn, tiniest of heads. Some of the flavours are allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardomum, brazil nuts, and christmas pudding. Medium bodied, very complex really well balanced. Terrific! Very impressive offering, keep up the good work. Thank You Ralph.

Bottle: Poured a deep orangey color ale with a nice foamy head with OK retention but no lacing. Aroma of caramel malt with light spice mix is weaker then anticipated. Taste is a mix between some nice caramel malt with some notes of cloves and ginger. Body is thinner then expected with some medium carbonation. I was expecting a bit more character from this one but enjoyable nonetheless.

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.

On tap at the Brewery and bottled in 750 ML stenciled corked bottles for cellaring: You get a rich copper colored ale in your glass with a substantial puffy cap which lasts...Aromas of the honey, spices and malts give an impression of an Xmas pudding with oranage sauce. Decent malt spine, smooth palate, spicey-bready character. Up front the cookie dough malts are there to chew on then the balance comes from the spices which seem to blend nicely with the hops chosen for this brew. Mid palate you get the fruitiness and citrus peel tastes developing...finished clean, slightly sweet and warming with a tang from the spice and hops. A very well done winter warmer ale. ***imbibing tip: serve this ale at about 50 deg.F and let it warm as you drink it to get all the spice and citrus flavours.