Fitzmas
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

 

 

Came in a standard pint glass a deep dark chocolate brown with a thinner tannish colored head atop.Big cinnamon and dark chocolate notes in the nose with ginger not quite as bold.The ginger hits much harder on the palate along with the cinnamon it gets pretty spiced,some mellow roast and dark chocolate saves the beer for me.Not bad,basically a spiced Edmund Fitz spiced up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, a lot of spice in here. I liked it, but would have enjoyed it more if they used less spice. Basically was their Christmas beer with their porter as the base.

 

32 ounce growler
Served in a becker glass

L - I will call it very dark brown with ruby highlights. It is capped with an inch of tan head.

S - That's a lot of ginger! I smell some cinnamon too, but any of the wonderful Edmund Fitzgerald smells are lost in the spices. I get the occasional whiff of roasted malt or chocolate.

T - The flavor is almost all spice as well. I've been letting it warm up to try and get some of the Eddy Fitz elements to come through to little avail.

M - Full

O - The description of this beer sounded great at my local growler fill station, Edmund Fitzgerald with Christmas Ale spices. In reality it may be Eddy Fitz, but the millions of pounds of cinnamon and ginger that were used leave the base beer unrecognizable. This beer would be great if the spices were reduced tremendously to allow the glory of Eddy Fitz to carry a spiced beer instead of masking the flavors with overspicing.

 

 

With the success of one of the best porters on the market, Edmond Fitzgerald gets spruced up a bit for the holiday season, donning the decorative spice of ginger and cinnamon to turn this bold and luscious dark ale into a winter warmer and a holiday delight.

Highly frothy, a tall column of tan lather billows to the top of the glass. Where the expectations of dark chocolate, coffee and toast are expected, and largely received, there's also the peppery spice of ginger and the soft capsacin-like pang of cinnamon. Once the beer layers on the tongue, its nougat-like sweetness is bready, creamy and sweet.

Retaining its creamy, nearly marshmallow body, the taste of bittersweet chocolate, heavy toast and medium coffee wrap around a fortified toffee taste and keeps the middle palate rounded and fullish. With hop bitterness swirling underneath, the taste of wood and cocoa give more of a coffee bitterness than anything of citrus. Yet as the body quivers while reaching the finish, the rise of spices again take control.

Its malty-dry finish allows just enough room for the spicy tandem of cinnamon and ginger to provide a playful peppery heat and an unmistakable festive attitude just in time for the Christmas holiday. Echoes of those spices return in aftertaste, accompanied with a wonderful chocolate balance.

Aroma is dominated initially by ginger and cinnamon, but chocolatey notes emerge, along with toasted malt sweetness. Flavor reveals huge cinnamon presence, which gives the impression of sweetness, a kick of ginger, and a lightly roasty, slightly bitter finish. There's a touch of acrid roast malt underneath. Not a ginger fan, so that overpowers, but good cocoa presence and cinnamon tones.