Great Lakes Winter Ale - Great Lakes Brewery

jaz58

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle. 6.2% alc./vol.

The nose was a nice combination of lemon and sweet malt.

When poured in a glass a thick blonde coloured head formed which dissipated slowly. The ale was a clear reddish brown colour with a decent amount of effervescence.

Wonderful hints of nutmeg, ginger and coriander and in the distance a little orange. Very smooth mouthfeel and a nice dry finish.

A nice ale to sip on a wintery night by the fireplace. A good beer for the holiday season.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2009 01:27:36 | More by jaz58

timiskin

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +6.2%

03-23-2013 15:54:14 | More by timiskin

DaPan

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

02-13-2013 04:16:38 | More by DaPan

wizo

Quebec (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

02-05-2013 00:43:13 | More by wizo

KrisDLSmith

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +13.3%

01-31-2013 09:51:53 | More by KrisDLSmith

tbeckett

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

01-24-2013 15:17:14 | More by tbeckett

Kremlock

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Deep copper and hues of amber in colour. Pours a nice thick (1/2 inch) head that is off white. sort of Irish cream diluted with some milk. There is a bit of a haze and the beer lacing continues through the end.

S: Spicy notes of cinnamon, cloves, ginger right off with loads of bread and caramel. Smells like creme brule and has a bit of alcohol in the background.

T: Ginger and cinnamon come threw very well with some ginger in the back. Hints of oranges mingle with the bready and toffee flavours.

M: Med-low body, has good carbonation, dry finish with a lasting bitterness.

O: I love this Winter Warmer. It has the spiciness you'd expect, the bread/caramel/toffee flavours to balance it and it has loads of hops for a nice bitter end. This is perfect for our weather.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2013 20:48:41 | More by Kremlock

Dalia

Michigan

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

12-22-2012 08:48:43 | More by Dalia

SebD

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: It has a nice merky amber color to it. It has a nice thick light beige head that dies down slowly and leaves nice lacing.

Smell: The aromas definitely give out hints of bready malts, honey, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and oranges.

Taste: Like the aromas, it has some sweet honey, some caramel, bready malts, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and some light oranges.

Mouthfeel: It has a low/medium carbonation with a nice overall balance and feel.

Drinkability: It's a very smooth drinkable beer accompanied with decent flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2012 22:39:17 | More by SebD

Digimaika2

Ontario (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

(4.0) A: Attractive clear burnt amber coloured with a puffy cappuccino foam head. Good retention and very good lacing down the glass.

(3.5) S: Tangerine, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon/pumpkin, burnt caramel, grassy, and generally quite floral. A bit of a soapy aroma but not a negative, rather more reminiscent of those floral qualities.

(3.5) T: Gingerbread, cinnamon, pumpkin, caramel, nutmeg, and some citrus qualities that are more subdued than aroma indicated. The gingerbread taste is quite dominant and appealing, yet a bit overpowering in my opinion. Detecting some hefeweizen-like qualities with cloves and fresh grasses coming through. Tasty.

(3.5) M: Medium bodied with medium-low carbonation. Slick and semi-oily with a fairly clean texture.

(3.5) D: A good offering from Great Lakes but not quite my cup of tea. The gingerbread/cinnamon taste was very good at first sip but became a bit too dominant for my liking. A bit one dimensional overall.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2012 02:42:15 | More by Digimaika2

Vyronian

Ontario (Canada)

4.25/5  rDev +20.4%

11-29-2012 23:14:51 | More by Vyronian

cfalovo97

Ontario (Canada)

1/5  rDev -71.7%

11-06-2012 18:12:31 | More by cfalovo97

oldp0rt

Quebec (Canada)

3/5  rDev -15%

10-01-2012 14:00:46 | More by oldp0rt

Molson2000

Ontario (Canada)

4/5  rDev +13.3%

09-11-2012 00:24:24 | More by Molson2000

hopsolutely

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

08-20-2012 00:48:21 | More by hopsolutely

batmanbach

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

05-07-2012 17:19:30 | More by batmanbach

robieobie1

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +6.2%

03-16-2012 14:33:33 | More by robieobie1

nmann08

Maryland

2/5  rDev -43.3%

01-16-2012 20:49:48 | More by nmann08

oldsmuggler

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -0.8%

01-15-2012 22:06:12 | More by oldsmuggler

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Beer has a dark toffee colour and a moderately sized off-white head.

Tonnes of spices in the nose. Clove foremost, followed by cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Bready malt is behind the spice.

Like the nose, the taste is full of spice. Cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg. Very pronounced. Orange peel is notable in the background, along with the bready malt flavours. It is a "warmer" all right, with all of the spices.

Moderate carbonation, medium bodied. The spice gives the beer a bit of a tingle. Pretty smooth.

Overall, not bad, but not totally my thing. The serving size is far too big. No reason to stick this in a 750ml bottle. Regular size would be more than fine. This beer is pretty good, but there is no way I will finish it.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2012 21:59:47 | More by jrenihan

TheHammer

Ontario (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: A finger and a half of head that retained quite well, but lacked in lace. The body is a cloudy brown with a couple red notes and quite a lot of fine sediment.

Smell: Cinnamon and orange peel are the dominant scents with a touch of sweet malt in the background. Warming helped quite a bit, but there's just not enough bang.

Taste: Starts with a mixed cinnamon and sugary malt taste that reminds me of cinnamon snap cookies. Then it tends to lose some of the sweetness a has a little musty yeast note that is accented by some citrus and ginger and ending with a slight spice note.

Mouthfeel: It has some musty notes that don't quite sit right with me, but the cinnamon gingerbread after taste is quite nice. The carbonation also seems to handle the somewhat jumbled flavour shifting.

Drinkability: It's designed to be a single one of winter drinker, and that's exactly what it does. Medium bodied and a little dry, but could serve as a desert beer.

Final Thoughts: I've yet to encounter a Winter Warmer that has really wowed me. Certainly this is a nice seasonal one off, but there's nothing here that would make me seek it out again. Worth one shot if anything.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2012 02:59:40 | More by TheHammer

MerkurKing16

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +13.3%

12-31-2011 15:51:56 | More by MerkurKing16

Foddz

Ontario (Canada)

2.78/5  rDev -21.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

A: Pours a slightly earthier tone than reddish-copper, with two fingers worth of mixed-size beige bubbles capping it nicely. Head persists for a little while before forming a soapy film on top, leaving some lacing around the glass. More carbonation can be seen rising to the top from within.

S: Sweet ginger, honey, caramel. Maybe a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg as well. There's some bready malt present as well. I want to say there's a faint hint of orange peel in the mix as well. It comes across as a bit of a jumble.

T: The taste is a bit more on target. Biscuity malts are a little more forward, with the ginger and cinnamon spice taking a back seat as compared to the nose. Caramel rounds out the middle. A little more balanced with the citrus/orange zest a bit more at play towards the back end. Overall quite sweet and not much hops to balance things out. Aftertaste is a lingering ginger/nutmeg/orange peel combination. Still a bit of a jumble but better than the nose.

M: A little thin with a sharp prickling of carbonation. A little bit of stickiness from the sweetness. Not terrible but doesn't seem well suited to the rest of the beer.

O: I want to like this beer. It has a lot of interesting elements that just don't come together in a really cohesive fashion. Some entropy is at play as the whole doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts, at least in my mind.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2011 03:26:41 | More by Foddz

fizzyted

British Columbia (Canada)

4/5  rDev +13.3%

12-24-2011 07:17:51 | More by fizzyted

korguy123

Ontario (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

2011 Release in a 750ml bottle.

A- Muddy brown with deep ruby highlights. Three finger soapy off white head. Thin cap is all that's left after several minutes. Lacing is excellent webbing all over the glass.

S- Huge ginger, honey and very dry cinnamon. Slight orange, very subdued under the ginger.

T- Like drinking ginger snaps covered in cinnamon. Definitely getting the sweetness from the honey but not getting the orange peel. This is an excellent winter beer (if you don't have a problem with ginger and cinnamon)

M- Medium bodied, dry lingering aftertaste.

O- I can really see where they were heading with this one. The spices don't offend me, they are a tad over powering but you quickly get used to it.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2011 02:11:12 | More by korguy123