Great Lakes Brewing Red Leaf Lager

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing (Ontario)
Style: American Dark Lager
Etobicoke, Canada

Brown bottle, 341 ml, Ontario Craft Brewers Discovery Pack purchased at the LCBO, savoured on January 8 2008; eye: dark copper, clear, no effervescence, beige head that falls rather rapidly, no lacing; nose: malt, corn, light hops, diluted caramel; mouth: malt, a bit of cardboard, a bit of "itchiness" on the tip of the tongue, malty finale with hops more present than expected, slightly grainy texture but mainly watery, mildly sweet, lightly bitter, light-medium body, rather carboanted; overall: so? FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 341 ml, ensemble cadeau Ontario Craft Brewers Discovery Pack acheté au LCBO, savourée le 8 janvier 2008; œil : cuivre foncée, claire, pas d’effervescence, mousse beige qui tombe plutôt rapidement, pas de dentelle; nez : malt, maïs, grain, léger houblon, caramel dilué; bouche : malt, un peu cartonné, un petit piquant su’l’bout d’la langue, finale maltée avec un houblon plus présent que mes attentes, texture légèrement rugueuse mais pas mal aqueuse, moyennement sucrée, légèrement amère, corps léger-moyen, plutôt carbonatée; en résumé : bof

341 mL bottle as part of the Ontario discovery pack. Light malty nose. A malt taste is certainly there, but the beer is disappointingly thin. The effort to make the bottle labeling look old is noted....

341ml Bottle: Provided fresh from the brewer at the Mobile Monday event in Toronto. I see the OCB decided this was one of Ontario’s finest, deserving placement in the new Discovery Pack. Really. The aroma is caramel sweet and the flavour is bland, delivering hints of that sweetness and some form of sourness, but little else. Now that these guys are proving they can brew with their seasonals perhaps it’s time to go back and reformulate these a bit?

Bottle- Ontario Craft Brewers 6 pack at the LCBO. Very light malt aroma, very light malt flavour. Dark brown-red colour, small head. The End.

33 cl bottle, Shelburne. Faint unoffedning aroma, sweet flavor, almost thick tasting. Nothing terrible but wouldn’t recommend (except that it came as part of the LCBO mixed six pack).

341ml bottle, 5% a/v From the Ontario Craft Brewers 6 pack at the LCBO. Pours a deep red amber with a medium tan head. Metal, caramel, and almost lactic acid bitterness invade the nose, while the tongue detects malt flavour with little else. smooth on the finish. As the last two have now said, GLB makes fantastic seasonals, but this is just too incredibly average to be any good.

341ml bottle from my Ontario Craft brewers pack. Pours a dark amber colour with a large beige, almost pink head. The aroma is metallic, caramalts, and a touch of hops, with a hint of something sour? The taste is kind of bland, mostly just malts, but the finish and aftertaste is cool and refreshing. I’m never all that impressed with American dark lagers, and this is no exception. Yeah, it’s smooth and easy drinking, but would it kill them to add some sort of distinct flavour(s) at all? VeloVampire is right, the seasonal brews from Great Lakes are definitely something special respectively, but beers like this really are benign, run-of-the mill and unimpressive. Too bad.

341 ml bottle from the Ontario Craft Brewers Discovery Pack - pours a dark amber with a small white head. Fairly sweet, malty aroma, but a good amount of grain in there too. A lightly toasty quality as well. More toastiness in the mouth, with slightly less-than-average carbonation. Faint, dry finish, with some lingering alcohol. Ok, but where this brewery really shines is with their seasonal ales. Stick to those (and steer clear of the benign lagers) and you’re fine....