Christmas Ale
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Pours a beautiful, transparent red with minimal foam. Smell is sweet, fruit and honey. Taste leads with grain and malt, with a little cinnamon and ginger coming on in the middle (but not as much as I remember from previous years). Aftertaste is that of a hearty ale with minimal spice. Mouthfeel is smooth with a little alcohol and carbonation to balance the higher gravity. Overall a nice winter warmer, just not as nice as I remember.

 

If the goal was to emulate the flavors of Merriment, then bravo. Cinnamon, firewood, with a nice pleasant marshmallow sweetness.

Christmas ale’s are not my wheelhouse, but for a relaxing beer this does pretty good.

 

 

On tap, pours an ale color with almost no head. Taste is soapy, some caramel but soapy. Second taste is malty that leads into soap, finishes bitter. Third taste is malt, rinse, repeat.

 

 

Amber color and clear. Good thick initial head that leaves a ring of blanketing lace. Minimal spots thereafter.

Darker malt with an appropriate amount of spice—honey, cinnamon and ginger mostly.

The body is neutral with a less than typical carbonation level. This tastes like a brown ale with holiday spices, mostly ginger. There’s some alcohol warmth in the swallow along with a decent dollop of cinnamon. There’s a faint honey background.

12/13/24 - (Can - Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Purchased a single can on December 13, 2024 at Beer on the Wall Park Ridge. Purchased at store temperature for $2.84 including tax, refrigerated for four hours before opening later in the evening. 12 oz, Best By 2/16/25, no can date beyond the 8:08:13 AM can stamp. Christmas Ale with spices and honey, 7.5% ABV. Brewed & Canned by Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland, Ohio.

Appearance: Beautiful crystal clear ruby red base. Strong sustained center glass carbonation in the goblet containing the single can pour. Snow like dusting of creamy covering most of the base, creamier and richer along the rim. Looks excellent! 4.5

Aroma: Cherry cough drops, strong malt, raisins and ginger. All work together well despite the disparate origins. Smells like a Christmas fruit cake, above medium strength. 4.0

Taste: Taste not as wide as the aroma yields. A whole lot of malt going on here. Consistent with the style, and not necessarily surprised, but the aroma led me to a wider breadth of flavors. Let this warm a bit, and it brings back memories more of the strong malty Belgian Dark Strong Ales. All that said, beyond my personal taste preferences, this is consistent with the style, though wish I could gleam honey, plus the cherry flavors enjoyed in the aroma. Did get the ginger about 15 minutes in, enjoyed that taste portion the most. 3.5

Mouthfeel: This is strong from go, very malt forward. Malt, malt, malt. More bitter than expected, though still a bit sweet. Barley malt finish with a splash of ginger . 3.75

Overall: If you like winter warmers and malty beers, this one will fit the bill. Well crafted, beautiful aroma. This one is served by Nick, who serves hard malty beers in here to men who want to get drunk quickly, and don't want any hop characteristics here to give the beer "atmosphere". Can see why many like this, a bit malty for my tastes, but glad I picked up and finally tried this evening. 3.5

Pours a deep amber with about a finger of white head that dissipated quickly from my draft pour. Smells of roasted nuts and malt, slight citrus. Taste falls a little flat. Heavy malt presence with hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. Overall this is nothing great but certainly fine to drink.

 

Can from TJs

Have had this beer in years past and enjoyed it. 2024 batch is horrendous. The mouth feel is ok but it tastes like dish soap and orange peels mixed together. I wish I could find anything positive to say. Undrinkable.

 

 

Big white head at pour, dissipated somewhat quickly. Reddish copper color, fairly light body. Primarily sweet honey flavor. Drinking it after a 10mi run in hot and humid weather so it goes down easy! I would put this one in the ok bucket.

 

I was excited to try this seasonal ale based on the reviews. It looks like a good red winter ale with a white head. There's the faintest of sweetness in the nose and that's it. Unfortunately, the taste continues this trend. I found a slight fruit sweetness and the mouthfeel is non-existent. At least it's not bad or offensive. This could be so much better.