Christmas Ale
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Christmas AleChristmas Ale
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Great Lakes Brewing Co.
 
Ohio, United States
Style:
Winter Warmer
Ranked #10
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
88
Ranked #13,354
Avg:
3.95 | pDev: 12.91%
Reviews:
987
Ratings:
3,387
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 23, 2025
Added:
Nov 16, 2002
Wants:
  178
Gots:
  882
Do not open ‘til Christmas? Whoever coined that phrase obviously hasn’t tasted Christmas Ale’s fresh honey, cinnamon, and ginger flavors.

A Yuletide’s worth of holiday spices and sweet honey to keep you a-wassailing all season long.

World Beer Championships 6-Time Medal Winner Since 1999 (Gold, Silver)
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of raphhix
Reviewed by raphhix from Tennessee

3.86/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
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.
Mar 23, 2025
 
Rated: 3.75 by Jjmj51 from Rhode Island

Mar 17, 2025
Photo of TiredTed
Reviewed by TiredTed

3.67/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
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.
Feb 27, 2025
 
Rated: 3.25 by lakewy17 from New Hampshire

Feb 24, 2025
 
Rated: 3.96 by Timmmmaaayyy from Pennsylvania

Jan 11, 2025
Photo of Beer_Classical_and_Jazz
Reviewed by Beer_Classical_and_Jazz from Minnesota

4.05/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
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.
Jan 01, 2025
 
Rated: 4 by Patches826 from Massachusetts

Dec 26, 2024
 
Rated: 4 by PaleAleWalt from New York

Dec 24, 2024
Photo of smcolw
Reviewed by smcolw from Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
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.
Dec 19, 2024
Photo of ChicagoJ
Reviewed by ChicagoJ from Illinois

3.71/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
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
Dec 14, 2024
Photo of Dan2213
Reviewed by Dan2213 from Pennsylvania

3.74/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
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.
Dec 01, 2024
 
Rated: 4.09 by Will1523

Dec 01, 2024
Photo of mpk2020
Rated by mpk2020 from Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Can from TJs
Nov 24, 2024
Photo of Dreamwagon
Reviewed by Dreamwagon

1.34/5  rDev -66.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.25
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.
Nov 03, 2024
 
Rated: 4.12 by Nick2Wendell from Ohio

Sep 02, 2024
Photo of Storm_Rryder
Reviewed by Storm_Rryder from Iowa

3.75/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
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.
Aug 04, 2024
 
Rated: 4 by Iggy88 from Ohio

May 01, 2024
Photo of dkoehler42
Reviewed by dkoehler42 from New York

3.21/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
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.
Jan 27, 2024
 
Rated: 3.9 by smithj4 from New York

Jan 26, 2024