Great Lakes Christmas Ale - Great Lakes Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
89
good
-
1,403 Ratings

rAvg: 3.97
pDev: 13.35%
Reviews: 715
Hads: 688

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Brewed by:
Great Lakes Brewing Company

Ohio, United States

Style | ABV
Winter Warmer | 7.50% ABV

Availability: Winter. bottle (606), on-tap (103), growler (6).

Notes:
No notes at this time.

View: Beers (66) | Reviews (193) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by tectactoe:

tectactoe

Michigan

4.36/5 rDev +9.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours an orange and amber hybrid color with a ton of red hues and a pretty exceptional amount of clarity all around. Small white head fades quick and doesn't leave much lacing at all. The nose.... what to say about the nose. Full of a basket of toasted malts and spices - most prominent being cinnamon, but also included are nutmeg and maybe some ginger. The taste hits with an incredibly unique and well-executed balance of sweet and spicy malt - sweetness in the form of caramel, toffee, and butter, and spicy in the form of cinnamon and nutmeg. Very nutty, and with the spices, it resembles a warm pecan pie. Yeast noticeable in the background, provides a nice bready and buttery aftertaste (think Christmas sugar cookie). Honey is hard to detect, but is noticeable at the tail end as the beer starts to warm up a little bit. Medium body, not too sticky on the mouth, low to medium carbonation.

This beer tastes like Christmas in a bottle. The fact that it's a holiday release makes it all the more alluring and I feel like a little kid on Christmas when I finally get my hands on some.

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2012 12:40:24 | More by tectactoe

More User Reviews:

nstorts

Ohio

4.5/5 rDev +13.4%

05-21-2013 02:07:48 | More by nstorts

InspectorBob

New Jersey

4/5 rDev +0.8%

05-20-2013 14:35:48 | More by InspectorBob

MJSJr

Ohio

4.5/5 rDev +13.4%

05-19-2013 17:25:13 | More by MJSJr

mattsucks

Ohio

4/5 rDev +0.8%

05-18-2013 14:17:48 | More by mattsucks

Jade

Ohio

3.25/5 rDev -18.1%

05-18-2013 13:33:25 | More by Jade

athesing10

Ohio

4.5/5 rDev +13.4%

05-17-2013 14:08:44 | More by athesing10

GinsuDave

Michigan

3.25/5 rDev -18.1%

05-15-2013 10:22:24 | More by GinsuDave

PorterLambic

Florida

3.3/5 rDev -16.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Pours a really nice coppery-amber color with a light tan head. Retention is not so great, dropping to a faint ring quickly.
Smell is malty with a caramel note and a weird sweet floral note that is very hard to place specifically. No spice notes to be found though they were expected.
Taste is the same as the smell, malt, caramel, and that same odd sweet floral note. It isn't quite strong enough to be offputting but it isn't able to be overlooked, either. No real spice though a very faint pepper note does show eventually.
Solid medium-full body, somewhat warming, smooth-ish with light effervescence. Nothing great sadly. A decent beer, that's all.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 20:54:06 | More by PorterLambic

sugrefd

Illinois

5/5 rDev +25.9%

05-13-2013 10:29:00 | More by sugrefd

Slay40

Michigan

4/5 rDev +0.8%

05-12-2013 02:28:22 | More by Slay40

Artjsantos

Ohio

3.5/5 rDev -11.8%

05-10-2013 16:52:15 | More by Artjsantos

bvskoog

Alabama

4.5/5 rDev +13.4%

05-10-2013 06:49:08 | More by bvskoog

yesyouam

New York

3.3/5 rDev -16.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Great Lakes Christmas Ale is a crystal clear amber ale with a soft, waxy, yellowish head that leaves nice lacing on the glass. It has a light aroma with hints of spice and candy. It's medium bodied and a little sharp. The finish is a little metallic and gritty. It's quite sweet and well spiced. It almost tastes like a candy cane. There's a little caramel and some juniper bitterness that lingers after the swallow. This is very clearly a Christmas Ale. The balance is pretty good but it's too sweet to have more than one.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2013 01:09:59 | More by yesyouam

moodyhudy

Ohio

4/5 rDev +0.8%

05-02-2013 06:37:18 | More by moodyhudy

Foam

Pennsylvania

3.73/5 rDev -6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Ginger fruit.
flower blossoms .
malt.
olive brine ?
sea salt .

that great lakes-ian soul that their brews posess .
best of all, got a bunch of single bottles for $1.00 since it's way out of season .
a spicy nutmeg and ginger-malt finish concludes the taste profile of this Cleveland-brew .
definetly a weirdo/geek even amidst the X-mas beer world .

a few will do ya .

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2013 01:52:53 | More by Foam