Where to find it: La Maison
Drinking Granville Island Brewery’s seasonal beer is like sitting down for a meal of pancakes. After one sip you’re ecstatic, marvelling why you haven’t done this more often. After a few more you never want to see it again until the day you die.
A dark beer with hints of sweet toffee, nuts, and caramel is overwhelmed by its cocoa and vanilla flavouring. The Lions Winter Ale tries too hard to be different. Its unique and harsh flavour wants to be the fruitcake of beers, but in doing so abandons the principles that made Granville Island Brewery such a popular Canadian beer.
A pint of it is simply too much and will have you trying to pawn it off to your friends in exchange for tastier and cheaper rivals. Unless you’re planning on sitting back after a long day and nursing a beer for hours, I recommend avoiding this one.
Bottom line: 2 pints out of 5
