Lakefront Holiday Spice Lager Beer

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

A huge head is creamy & tan over a rich, vermillion body. Aroma is soapy and piney, spiced with cinnamon and clove. Caramel holds the flavor together but there is a spicy sweetness that can overwhelm like an intense potpourri. Sugary-honey mouthfeel. This is better than many holiday beers in the fact that it has some real personality... many I’ve tried this winter have been standard IPAs or weak winter warmers.

<font size=-4>Single bottle from <a href=http://www.worldmarket.com/costplus/findstore Plus World Market, Orland Park, IL 60462<font size=-1>

Pours an amber brown color with slightly tan head. Mild aroma of caramel and spice (similar spice scent to Leinie’s Apple Spice). Flavor of sweet malts, burnt brown sugar, molasses, ginger and nutmeg with a carbonation that makes the flavor dance in your mouth. Medium bodied with a light malt finish. I don’t generally prefer any of the Holiday beers, but this one is done very well.

Sampled at a 2005 Christmas and Winter beer tasting at Delilah’s, Chicago, IL. 2003 vintage. Clear amber hued lager having a long-lasting average off-white head with good lacing. No discernable carbonation. Nice aroma of caramel and spice. Medium bodied that starts smooth with light sweet malt, clove and other spice flavors. Finishes with light malt aftertaste. An enjoyable spicy winter beer.

Bottle: Courtesy of MrFacto via trade. Nice spicey aroma with ginger and cinnamon. Hints of orange barely sneak by all the spice. Pours a cloudy orangish-red with a moderate off-white head with good retention. Moderate orange up front that seems to turn to a light orange peel when it mixes with the big ginger, cinnamon, and bitter finish. Lightly acidic in the finish. Lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. Don’t get any honey like I expected after reading the commercial description until it warms. It’s very subtle though. Nice creamy mouthfeel.

Ginger, nutmeg, orange slices, on top of a rich caramel/toffee base. A bit of hop bite in the finish. Not a bad attempt at a winter warmer.

(12oz bottle, bottled 3rd Week November -- 2004?) Small tan head atop a murky dark brown. Aroma is moderately sweet, gingerbread, some cinnamon. Taste is moderately sweet, ginger, brown sugar, candied orange, some earthy, light caramel. Medium body, very drinkable. Alcohol well hidden, with only a little bit of warming noticeable.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy brown with nice head and lacing. Smells of ginger, cinnamon, and malt. Taste is like a liquidfied iced gingerbread cookie with honey and a bit of acidic orange in the background. Hides the alcohol REALLY well. This was almost a drain pourer. Too many spices thrown into this one.

Bottle courtesy of StewardofGondor. Pours mahogany with tan head. Aroma is very bisquity ginger bread. Flavor much the same with some caramel roastiness through the finish. No alcohol detectable whatsoever. 9.5%? Nice fall/winter transition brew.