Lions Winter Ale
Granville Island Brewery

 

Just ok

 

Light brown color and clear. No remnants from the small head. No lace.

Mild vanilla spice to the nose. Mostly toasted malt smell.

The vanilla is strongest upfront on the tongue. Decent body with an average carbonation level. The finish is quick.

Very nice winter ale Definitely recommend

 

 

I guess it's not surprising for a city that doesn't have winter to produce a "winter ale" like this. Appearance is not bad, but it's all downhill from there. It tastes like some unidentifiable liquid with vanilla extract and chocolate dumped in after the fermenting process. The flavour is entirely separate from the liquid itself. Somebody wrote elsewhere that it tastes "artificial," and that doesn't go far enough. Someone else wrote that it doesn't seem like these flavours came from malt alone - no kidding!! It's the winter ale for people who don't like beer, because it doesn't taste like beer at all. I suppose I should have been warned when I read "flavoured beer" on the label. If you are actually a beer drinker, stay away. This is like drinking Malibu Rum if you appreciate good rum. Disgusting.

Look: Pours opaque coppery brown with a foamy 2 finger white head.
Smell: Dominated by the vanilla.
Taste: Tonnes of Vanilla, some caramel, very sweet.
Feel: This beer is a little light and more watery than I remember it from past years. Plays forward in the mouth.
Overall: This beer was a favourite dessert beer of mine from years past. I always looked forward it becoming available in the LCBO each winter season. Not sure if the recipe has changed or my tastes have, but now this beer is underwhelming me. It's not a bad beer, but it's not anything I'm going to be seeking out. I'd give this beer a B-

 

Clear red-brown color. Head formed of medium sized bubbles and quickly dropped down to a thin skiff. No lacing. High flux of small bubbles rising from the bottom keeping the minimal skiff of head replenished.

Very sweet smell blended from caramel, marshmallow, and some floral/herbal scents that seem more familiar in a soft drink like a coke. Swirling the glass kicked up cherry and chocolate scents as if a black forest cake had gone into the mash.

Tastes like a thin black forest cake, with sweet cherries and some mild chocolate. The caramel malt joins in a mid-taste. The aftertaste is of a slightly bitter chocolate that has been baked a bit.

Some tongue tingling for a while as it builds to a large bubbled foam. The foam ends up feeling like a medium heavy body.

Interesting scent and flavor. This should probably appeal more to the chocolate lovers. I would have enjoyed it more if there had been more caramel malt and less chocolate.

 

Happy CANada Day, hosers! Take off, eh? This is one of my FAVORITE holidays of the year since it provides me with the impetus to a) drink CANned CANadian beer ISO The CANQuest (tm); b) watch hockey (either pre-recorded games or movies, like "Slapshot"; c) watch "Strange Brew"; d) eat some beaver & e) parade nekkid in the street while waving a CANdian flag. 2017 was their 150th Anniversary so I pulled out all of the stops, using sparklers & firecrackers as accoutrements, which was attention-getting, to say the least. The local CANstabulary was bemused & amused as they led me away, but I was less-than-thrilled with the 1st & 2nd degree burns, especially to my sensitive bits! Needless to say, I have scaled back since then. This will be my last for the holiday since having drank extensively of Ontario & some of Quebec, now it is British Columbia's turn!

A BIG "THANK YOU!" to my local, in-person trading partner, @tone77 , for providing me with a buncha beers for today's CANebration! He said that many of them will take me back to the early days of The CANQuest (tm), when AALs were the standard & the norm. No matter! Today, we CANebrate & inebriate! Cheers to our CANuck neighbors!

From the CAN: "This winter warmer features robust notes of cocoa, caramel and vanilla. So get out of the cold and into the bold. It's good to be here (R)."

I had "Rush's Greatest Hits" playing on YouTube as I Crack!ed open the vent to begin this momentous CANebration. I went with a slow, gentle C-Line Glug on this one, having just awakened from a late-evening nap. I watched in rapt fascination as it billowed into two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, deep-tan/light-brown head with moderate retention. Color was a gorgeous Coppery-Brown (SRM = > 17, < 22) with CANadian-quality clarity. Nose smelled like a liquefied chocolate cookie with notes of chocolate and vanilla with a bready, doughy sweetness. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was VERY chocolaty & quite sweet with an inherent doughiness. It was closer to cookie dough than an actual cookie. Finish remained sweet & chocolaty. I was less-than-enthused, but only because sweet does not do it for me. YMMV.

 

Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a bronze color with a 1 inch head. Smell is of cocoa, malts. Taste has lots of cocoa powder, some vanilla is present. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall, not exactly what I expect from this style, but an enjoyable beer nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

Pours a tawny amber color with a decent thumb and a half of fluffy head. Break leaves a nice collar and some spotty lacing.

Smell is rich. I get cocoa powder, vanilla and spices. It really mixes well and is quite pleasant.

Taste follows the nose, with the vanilla and chocolate battling out for the lead. The spices come in on the back end and there is a hint of cinnamon that I pick up.

Feel is medium bodied with good carbonation. Finish is cocoa and spice.

Well slap my ass and call me Randy. I tried this beer on a lark and damn but if I don't like it. Not a beer you would want a ton of, but still solid. A way better winter/holiday beer than say some of the Central City stuff.