Initial ’03 version of Great Lakes Blackout Stout strikes good balance between burnt coffee sourness, roasted chocolate sweetness, and black licorice sashay.
All posts by John Fortunato
GREAT LAKES ELLIOT NESS AMBER LAGER
Emphatic caramel chocolate seduction imbues wispy honeyed molasses sweetness as polite hop-spiced tingle and floral fruited tang spark tertiary fig-date sourness to toasted nut bottom of reddish amber medium body.
GREAT LAKES EDMUND FITZGERALD PORTER
Named after the doomed ship, well-carbonated jet-black Midwest porter pours thick and creamy (with cascading sienna bubbles rushing to fluffy-headed surface). Milky espresso salience and dark-roasted hop charred nuttiness counter syrupy sweet cocoa-chocolate frontal assault. Ashen peanut-shelled walnut and Brazil nut conflux deepens latent coffee grain bittering to tar-like molasses finish.
GREAT LAKES DORTMUNDER GOLD LAGER
Less fruit-hopped version of Great Lakes Pale Ale more reliant on roasted caramel malts, soft earthen grains, and gently crisp carbonation. Simple, refreshing, but in need of veritable up-front lemony zest.
GREAT LAKES CONWAY’S IRISH ALE
Hesitant ruby red medium body matches black malt cinch, charred grain upsurge, lemon curd intrigue, and crisp water flow to Red Ale-like ambrosial hop essence. Lively on the tongue though a tad weak flavorwise considering Irish-styled labeling.
GREAT LAKES BURNING RIVER PALE ALE
Excellent full-bodied rust-hued fruity-scented Lake Erie ale amasses wood-seared dry-hopped assertion as sharp citric peel bitterness, centralized nut grained roast, and peachy tangerine tang combine for discreet India Pale Ale-like taste sensation.
GREAT LAKES BLACKOUT STOUT
Excellent frothy Imperial Stout retains soothing up-front lactose malt richness as creamy caramel-burnt black chocolate and vanilla sweetness contrasts charcoal-embittered black coffee slipstream above residual oats base. Blackstrap molasses sapping, cedar-chipped bourbon-Scotch slip and pureed black cherry subsidy thicken velvety smooth backend.
GREAT LAKES ANNIVERSARY ALE
Ambitious floral-accented Belgian-styled tripel boasts loud bruised orange tang, peppery clove-coriander spicing, and nose-tingling carbonation. Ambrosial peach-pineapple-mango perk and lemon-candied flux overlay buttery oxidized bottom of golden-hued medium body.
(GREAT GRAINS) TEXAS TORNADO PALE ALE
Timid twister with musty copper penny turbidity addled by dirty water bunk, tardy hop funk, and burnt metal clunk. Slim orange souring grimly concealed. Brewery defunct: 2005.
(GREAT GRAINS) BLACK HORSE (SCHWARZBIER)
Pour slowly heavily hopped maroon-hued dark lager so obtrusive carbonation doesn’t smother freeze-dried coffee palate, bitter cocoa flourish, and roasted barley depth. Oily phenol finish turns softly sweet when warmed. Brewery defunct: 2005.
GREAT DIVIDE YETI IMPERIAL STOUT
Fantastic array of hop-charred roasted coffee beans, mochaccino, and espresso widen appeal of robust 9.5% alcohol dry body. Black oak, pine resin, and cedar fortify bitter end while creamy vanilla malting sweetens bourbon-barleywine finish splendidly.
GREAT DIVIDE WILD RASPBERRY ALE
Pungent raspberry-candied tartness and sugary malt frosting provoke moderately embittered blueberry-cranberry-cherry sourness of light-bodied rosy-hued summer slacker. Dubious grass-hay suggestion thins out prickly hop infusion, cracked wheat backbone, and subversive fermented raspberry finish. Musty malts turn acidic, sabotaging sparse fruity sourness.