Great Lakes Christmas Ale

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

Very interesting spice mixture, and a very pleasant drinking beer. Not quite liquid Christmas, but damn tasty.

A well-made beer. Kind of a reddish amber color with little head. Very sweet...maybe a bit too much. Still, a nice drink, but unlike a lot of reviewers, I would have a hard time drinking more than a couple of these in a sitting.

Bottle: Pours gold in color with almost not head. Smells of cinammon and ginger with a hint of citrus. Very nice smell. Taste is full of ginger, with just a slight hint of citrus. I feel like I am drinking a a ginger bread cookie. This is getting me in the holiday mood, and it’s Nov 2.

Deep amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma of ginger and orange peel with the requisite fresh nutmeg and cinnamon as well. Flavour of very fresh toasted malt backing up the aforementioned ginger and nutmeg. Lingering bready/spicy finish. Spicing is quite restrained but tasty enough.

pours clear amber with an nice egg shell white head that quickly disappears. great gingerbread aroma with a hint of honey. sweet spicy gingerbread flavor. spicy fairly dry finish. light citrus hop notes throughout. medium bodied. sparkling carbonation. fantastic christmas beer. liquid gingerbread.

Pours a medium amber color, small white head. Faint spicy odor. Taste is more subtle than I would have guessed from reading the descriptions of this beer. Amount of cinnamon is just right -- not overwhelming like I was afraid of. Also faint hint of clove, other spices as well. A very smooth ale. Nice stuff. UPDATE: Okay, this stuff is really, really growing on me. I’ve updated my scores accordingly.

Draft at the brewpub. Aroma: Strong spiciness in the aroma, mostly cinnamon but some ginger and maybe a bit of clove. Some sweet malt with strongish caramel notes. A bit of floral perfuminess, as well. Appearance: Light reddish in color and clear. Off white head was full and rocky. Flavor: The spices really pack a punch. Strong cinnamon and ginger that actually warm the tongue with their intensity. A medium strong malt sweetness comes through with notes of honey, caramel, and breadiness. A bit of light fruit and a touch of floral. Finishes fairly dry. Palate: Medium bodied. Medium carbonation. Some alcohol warming in back of mouth. Overall: One of the beers I look forward to every year. One of the great Christmas beers.

This beer helped me through a cold Christmas Eve night one year and has been stuck in my memory since. If your looking for a new tasting beer, try this one out.