Great Lakes Brewing Red Leaf Lager

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

Sampled at Beer Bistro Golden Tap Awards. Red body, small white head. Sweet dark lager taste, thin and uninspiring, but pretty darn drinkable. Not for the first time at this little well run fest, I was pleasantly surprised - some of these "average" rated Ontario micro’s do taste better from a fresh keg for sure.

Pretty decent. Very red looking with a normal amber ale flavour. A little thin on the palate side
Earlier Rating: 6/20/2004 Total Score: 2.2
red colour. no head. taste is lacking a bit. a little fizzy. thin and watery. boring.

Cheap alternative to Rickards Red on tap. Not much going on, it has more flavour than a normal lager and a much nicer colour, but still fairly bland.

Bottle. Pours a nice amber with a dark white head. sweet aroma of malts, light caramel, and fruit. I didn’t mind this one at all. Nothing too interesting though.

Aroma of malt and caramel, taste is malt and some bitterness. Not terribly complex and little character. It’s not terrible but not memorable.

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.

Bottle thanks to matt7215. Pours a hazy red with a small white head. The aroma is mostly a caramel malt. The taste is dominated by a somewhat spicy caramel flavored malt. Initially it is a quite fizzy and a spicy malt that is followed by a soft sludge of sweet and not pleasant finish. Not bad, but needs something, especially in the finish.

341ml bottle from HogtownHarry; Nose was a nice caramelly malt with a slight vanilla note in the background; Clear rusty brown with a medium beige head; flavor is a little watery but pleasant with light caramel, sweetness, and a little pepperiness. Not that bad for a lager!