Great Lakes Canuck Pale Ale

[midlife crisis]

Bought a few bottles of this at the brewery. Very nice. Lovely Cascades nose, decent bitterness on the palate with a dry body. To me, the Great Lakes "house character" is evident -- tastes a bit like Orange Peel or Pumpkin might taste without the spices and with more hops. In a good way. A very pleasant pale ale.

[SteelbackGuy]

I had some last night. I am going to have to try it again this week.
I got a lot of butter in the nose with a good dose of hops. The hopping seemed unique. One of the guys I drank it with said it reminded him of tulips.
The flavour profile was good. Very fresh, well hopped, a bit biscuity and lemony.....but the butteriness was there.
There were 4 people sharing this large bottle, two of us commented on the butter, two of us did not get any at all. But it was still a flavourful experience, which is why I am willing to give this one a few more go arounds.

[Bobsy]

Had this last night while finally watching the Dark Night. Here's my BA review, but in short I thought it was a pretty good beer and I'm glad I bought several bottles:

Great Lakes have done a nice job of this bottle, appealing to patriotism as the Winter Olympics open in Vancouver, with a nifty silkscreen of cross country skis, a toque and some maple leaves (as a Torontonian its so hard not to say maple leafs). My understanding is that this is a slight tweak of a Project X pilot brew that I drank in December, which had the chewy title of 'My Wife Went to the West Coast and all I Got Was This Lousy Pale Ale'.

I pulled out the Buffalo Brewfest glass for this one. The pour produced an orange liquid with a finger of soapy white head, that died down to a film, but laced attractively. At a colder temperature the hopping is more subdued, and prominent diacetyl mixes with cereal to produce an aroma that while not off-putting, is not what I look for in a pale ale. Thankfully as the beer warms grapefruit notes become apparent, and the hops begin to wrestle back their dominance. The diacetyl remains, but the citrus and floral hopping helps to make it more integrated and passable.

At this point in its life, Ontario is disappointingly shy of hops, and anything even approaching a moderate bitterness seems to be imported. Big kudos, then, to Great Lakes for putting a product on the market that helps to push the boundaries for what our brewers are willing to offer. Its not a great beer, that's for sure, but it does deliver a bitterness uncommon in these parts, and I applaud it for that. The balance is actually slightly out of whack towards the hopping (I never thought I'd say this in relation to an Ontario LCBO offering), but the malts are still present in a creamy cereal form, as is the odd note of diacetyl. The bitterness itself is accompanied by big, sweet, juicy grapefruit mixed in with orange and the faintest hint of pine. As with the aroma everything seems better integrated at a slightly higher than normal serving temperature. The body is pretty good too - medium in both feel and carbonation, and I think it suited the flavours well.

This pale ale is no Burning River, and they need to nuke the diacetyl for me to recommend it without recommendations, but it's a very drinkable beer, and perhaps the hoppiest pale ale in the province. Since they added their pilot system, this brewery has become one of the most innovative and forward thinking in Ontario. Now that may not be saying a lot, but these are early days and I think as the market matures and the brewers become more confident in pushing boundaries and adding more flavour to their offerings, that these guys will be well-positioned to exploit it to the full. Nice work, fellas!

[Ralphus]

I'm a little surprised more people haven't chimed on this one. As Bobsy notes, it's one of the hoppiest things available right now.

I'll start off by saying I really like this beer. Very timely and attractive packaging, it's pushing the boundary of what is available locally and I think the beer is good. It's got that sharpness that I like in some pale ales. There's also a good balance and a real nice west coast feel to it all.

There are some buttery notes in the smell. I don't notice them unless I'm looking for them though so I just continue plowing through this stuff and enjoying the fact that it's interesting and makes me feel good.

Well done!

[kwjd]

I've only had a single pint of this at C'est What a couple weeks ago, but I really enjoyed it. I remember liking it a bit more than the St Ambroise Pale Ale. I hope this becomes a popular beer and spreads all over the place like the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in the US.

[Bytowner]

I agree with Ralphus on this one. The diacetyl is noticeable in the aroma, but I can't pick up much in the flavour, maybe a bit slippery, but not much butter.

The thing that stands out for me is that, although there's a lack of a standout malt flavour, the thin mouthfeel and light body actually make it really sessionable. I could go through a truckload of these.

[Philip1]

Ha! I just returned from the LCBO and was going to post asking if anyone's tried it. Frankly, I'd never heard of it. Unlike Trafalgar Left Coast it seems to be getting a thumbs up from Bartowellers.

[wilco]

Just had a bottle and also noticed the diacetyl in both aroma and flavour (though not as bad as the Green Tea last year). I taste it more at the beginning, then the hops wash it away. I'll probably still pick up more. Does anyone remember if the taste subsided in the Green Tea after a while?

[velovampire]

I like this one quite a bit, and when I've had it on tap there seems to be less diacetyl present. The few bottles I've had all contain quite a bit in the aroma, and less, but still some, in the flavour (though not as bad as last year's Butter Tea Ale). Too bad about that - it's not a deal breaker, but were it not present, I'd be picking up 4-6 of these each time I go to the LCBO, instead of the 1 I do currently. Outside of that, though, it's a really nice brew, and, like Bobsy and others have said, if they can axe the diacetyl, this will be a real winner. Hope it gets tweaked a bit and shows up again, sooner than later.

[velovampire]

Oh yeah, and Bobsy's review (especially the last part about GLB being on the cutting edge of Ontario's brewing scene) is bang on. Nice one, Rob!

[JesseMcG]

The diacetyl is way too much for me.... even after letting it warm to allow the hops to shine through a little more.

I'm happy someone in Ontario is making a hoppier beer... but I can't get over the diacetyl. Too much of a butter bomb for me.

[JesseMcG]

Just had a bottle and also noticed the diacetyl in both aroma and flavour (though not as bad as the Green Tea last year). I taste it more at the beginning, then the hops wash it away. I'll probably still pick up more. Does anyone remember if the taste subsided in the Green Tea after a while?

Good question... I have a few more bottles I don't want to drink... but if ages helps I won't give them away...

[markaberrant]

You guys must be really hard up in Ontario, or this must be the best pale ale in the world if you are willing to overlook diacetyl.

[Torontoblue]

You guys must be really hard up in Ontario, or this must be the best pale ale in the world if you are willing to overlook diacetyl.

I wouldn't say Ontario drinkers are hard up, just that there are quite a few who don't really know what they want and will wax lyrical even over badly made beers as long as there's a hint of hops aroma and bitterness, IMHO.

[JesseMcG]

You guys must be really hard up in Ontario, or this must be the best pale ale in the world if you are willing to overlook diacetyl.

We are, and it's not.