Great Lakes Orange Peel Ale

Bytowner · Post by **Bytowner** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:27 pm

Of all the releases this summer, this was the one I was waiting for the most (despite the lukewarm reviews).

My overall feeling is that I wish the taste had picked up where the aroma left off. The smell is a wonderful combination of honey and orange zest, really very nice.

When it came to the taste, I felt the hops really took over, which is kind of unfortunate as I would have thought the bitter orange peel wouldn't need so much help. The orange and honey just doesn't come into it's own. That being said, it's a perfectly acceptable session ale, but I get the feeling there's alot more potential lying under those "5 varieties of hops".

sphilp · Post by **sphilp** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:33 pm

I thought it was overall a good beer, nice balance of hops and biscuit-y malt, I just wish the orange was as strong in flavour as it was in smell.

KwaiLo · Post by **KwaiLo** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:52 pm

I bought 2 of these for a homebrew planning session a few weeks ago, and the complaints we had have already been mentioned here.

There could have been so much done with this beer, but as it is, I don't think I will buy it again unless I have a friend who is very keen to try it.

JesseM · Post by **JesseM** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:17 pm

I'm not really sure why so many people were so unimpressed by this one, why all the high expectations? Personally I liked it, it was decent enough, great malt body with mild hop bitterness and a HINT of orange peel. I didn't hear anyone complaining that the Double Pumpkin Ale probably only had a single serving of pumpkin in it rather than the promised double

. It's nothing out of this world but I doubt that the brewery was going for a Dogfish head-esque IPA with a fruit element to it.

In the words of Steelback, it is what it is.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:04 pm

GL Beers are indeed solid. The Winter Ale was quite a handful this year, nicely done. We do like Ontario brewers to be creative in such ways that have proven to be popular in the United States.

Bytowner · Post by **Bytowner** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:20 pm

I wasn't unimpressed, I just thing there was greater potential for what, by the description, should have been a pretty complex beer. And, for the record, I felt the same way about the pumpkin ale.

Great Lakes is up there as one of my faves, largely because of their "pale" ale, and their Winter Ale was, indeed, a standout. Nothing wrong for pushing for a little more!

lister · Post by **lister** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:32 pm

I had the Orange Peel twice on the weekend. The first was on Friday at C'est What and the second on Saturday at Victory. I'm not sure if it was my tastebuds being screwy or if something was tweaked but the one at CW was far more punchier in the orange flavour department than the one at Victory. The Victory version is what I normally expect based off of drinking the Orange Peel for the past year for both on tap and in bottles.

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:46 pm

lister wrote:I had the Orange Peel twice on the weekend. The first was on Friday at C'est What and the second on Saturday at Victory. I'm not sure if it was my tastebuds being screwy or if something was tweaked but the one at CW was far more punchier in the orange flavour department than the one at Victory. The Victory version is what I normally expect based off of drinking the Orange Peel for the past year for both on tap and in bottles.

The difference in taste could just be down to the different gasses used to pump the beer in the kegs at these bars.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:58 pm

Bytowner wrote:
Great Lakes is up there as one of my faves, largely because of their "pale" ale, and their Winter Ale was, indeed, a standout. Nothing wrong for pushing for a little more!

Absolutely not - and there is always taste preference. I think the 666 Pale is great and it appeals to malty pale guys, where I may tend to go to Black Oak pale for the extra hop dryness. The Orange seems to be trying to balance the peel flavor addition with the level of hops (not be like an orange Creamsicle) and it is admirable. The Winter Ale remains an unqualified winner for me.

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:29 pm

I bumped into the delivery man for Great Lakes the other day, and he said that the pumpkin ale will be released again this fall, which made my day. Yay for local breweries!

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:06 pm

Bobsy wrote:I bumped into the delivery man for Great Lakes the other day, and he said that the pumpkin ale will be released again this fall, which made my day. Yay for local breweries!

Great news! That was one of my favourite fall sippers. Looking forward to it.