Great Lakes Christmas Ale

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Pours a clear copper, with a white one finger head that recedes quickly to a thin soapy cap and ring, leaving behind a thin webbing of lace. Smell; mildly spicy with a bit of cinnamon and others that I can’t place, as well as little bit of honey. There’s a hint of citric hops, and some cherries. Taste; honey and cinnamon really jump out at me on the first few sips, and then a bit of ginger comes forward. Sweet malts follow the spices, with no real hop presence to offset the sweetness, and there’s absolutely no alcohol present in the flavor at all. After a while this starts to become a bit sweet for me.. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and a touch syrupy with a low carbonation, and a good drinkability.

18-Sep-06 (12 oz bottle: Obtained 21-Feb-06 in trade with Pailhead, thanks Kevin!) Just a single sip and the dominance of the spicy flavors is already a touch overboard for my tastes. It’s a cornucopia of flavors for sure: ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, spruce, chamomile and coconut for starters, but it’s actually the strong flavor of ginger that’s taking my palate by force and the resulting moderate astringency is almost making me wince. Malts are pretty non-descript because all I can taste is the spice, but there’s a hint of breadiness in the background. Honey emerges in the finish and isn’t exactly shy about saying hello. I’m getting a pretty strong overall sweetness in the flavor and in the body as well, so the finish is not only astringent from the spice, but also gets a bit cloying before I can even finish half the glass. Carbonation is light-medium and body is medium-full, though the lingering sweetness could be augmenting the apparent thickness of the body. Same combination of sweet spices in the nose -- there’s no doubt about the ginger there, plus some honey and bready malts showing a moderate presence. Bright orange-amber color is almost the color of orange Jello but is very eye-catching. Steady streams of almost microscopic bubbles rising to the surface. Too bad there is no head atop the beer for those bubbles to join, but the beer poured with almost no head to begin with. I generally really like Great Lakes brews, but with the heavy ginger attacking my tastes buds (that tend to not like ginger in the first place) and the sweet but astringent finish, this one is definitely not hitting the mark with me. It’s interesting to focus on the complexity aspect while drinking this beer, but I’m strongly in need of a chaser.

Very good winter seasonal. Very strong on the spices, almost overpowering. Smooth. One is enough.

Beautiful clear ruby amber with a thick off-white head. Aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon, nice. Taste is not quite as good as the aroma but adds a solid dose of spices like ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. well nice refreshing...another good one from X brew place ....the beat goes on

Pours gold with a white head. Smells of oranges, peppers, perfume, dough and grass. Tastes bitter and citrussy with some decent straw like undertones and a bitter perfumy finish.

Thin wispy head of fine bubbles. Spicy aroma with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg. Malty aroma with some vegetal notes also. Color is a bright reddish orange. Flavor is soft and malty with plenty of spicy notes in there. Little bit of peppermint and vanilla also. Kind of dry and chalky. Finish is pasty with more lingering spices. Decent seasonal.

12 oz bottle

This was on clearance for .95 at Riley’s and worth every penny. I almost wish I would have picked up some more but they were all gone by the time I got back. Still, since this is a seasonal beer it will certainly be back sometime next winter. When it does, try to find it if you can. If not, it is worth considering as part of a trade though I would not make it the centerpiece of one. While hardly the most amazing beer it does get good marks for a Christmas seasonal.

Aroma / Appearance - A molasses colored body dances around the glass sheltered with only the faintest of heads. Light slides right through almost as if the glass was empty. The only evidence of something having been poured is that the tint changes. The nose definitely is reminiscant of the Christmas season as nutmeg and candy canes highlight a wintery aroma. Cinnamon also helps encourage the remindar of a cold winter’s day by the fire.

Flavor / Palate - The first sip was a bit cloying but not so strong to ruin the experience of the bittersweet cocoa, nutmeg and tea leaves. Gingersnap and candy canes form a wintery follow that is completed with a malty dry finish. At the end I get hints of Quelque Chose if it were possible to take out the cherry influence.

Sweet malts and light hops in the aroma.Pours medium copper with a slight off white head.Flavor is the same as the aroma.Medium to full mouthfeel with a thick malt finish.