Granville Island - Lions Winter Ale

[sluggerdog]

I have had a few mates go over to canada in the last few years to do the whole 'work at a ski tour' thing. Both of them went at different times and both have raved about this beer. I cannot seem to find anywhere that might sell it in AUS.

Has anyone tried it and if so what are your thoughts?

If it isn't possible to get in AUS I was wondering if someone knew of something available that could be similar? From the below description it sounds pretty unique with the late additions. It's not a session beer, just something to have one or two on a special occasion.

SPECS FROM THE VERY RELIABLE WIKIPEDIA

Lions Winter Ale - Crystal, Vienna & Munich malts come together to give Lions Winter Ale the body and richness of a robust ale, with a sweet caramel flavour. Specialty hops such as Wilamette, Czech and German Spalt, infuse the aroma. Bavarian Purity Law standards are observed until the filtration stage, at which point real caramel, vanilla and chocolate are added to give this beer a smooth vanilla like finish.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Island_Brewing

 

[Andyd]

I visited the head brewer a few years back on my way through (Vern Lambourne), who is a great guy to chat to.

Lions Gate was my favorite of a great range there. The notes I have say :

But my favorite for the day was the Lions Winter Ale, named after the famous Lions Gate bridge on the Northern side of town (a bridge Ive often travelled on my way to the snow fields north of Vancouver). This is a wonderfully warm, rich and complex beer that I would gladly spend a long evening in front of a fire with friends pontificating on the meaning of life amongst other things. A deep, deep brown with ruby highlights, this beer looks like is has the answers to all of the universes questions locked deep within. A complex malt profile is carefully balanced with a gentle yet prominent spicy character which for me seemed dominated by nutmeg and cinnamon. The dry finish leaves a lingering desire for that next sip.

A bit flowery, I know, but I was writing for an article. So yes, not a session beer, but definietly worth chasing down if you get the chance.

Andy

PS. No - I haven't seen any GI beers hit the shore... might have to see if there's anything we can do about that.

 

[fawnroux]

Nah, don't think you'll be finding this over here. I had a quick look online (beerstore, slowbeer) nothing for Granville Is at all. Keep searching though, you might find it.

Your post made me nostalgic for Vancouver! I loved that Granville Is beers were everywhere on tap over there. When I lived there, it was honestly the first introduction I had to craft beer. Pint of Molson Canadian? Pfffttt! I'll have the Granville Is Honey Lager thanks They helped light the fire for me!

Let us know how you go in your search.

 

[sluggerdog]

Dragging up one of my older posts, I never ended up finding this beer so after some googling and an email off to the brewery I have decided to come up with one myself.

The brewery wouldn't share the recipe however they did offer some good suggestions and also sent me this link saying it was close to their recipe.

This is what I have decided on with some minor mods to suit what I have available:

Recipe: Winter Ale BIAB NC I
Style: American Amber Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 29.06 l
Post Boil Volume: 24.11 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 l
Bottling Volume: 18.60 l
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 34.4 EBC
Estimated IBU: 23.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 89.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.50 Items Campden Tablet (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 1 -
3125.00 g Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 67.1 %
465.00 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (118.2 EBC) Grain 3 10.0 %
155.00 g Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 4 3.3 %
100.00 g Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 5 2.1 %
85.00 g Acid Malt (5.9 EBC) Grain 6 1.8 %
585.00 g Golden Syrup (0.0 EBC) Extract 7 12.6 %
145.00 g Molasses (157.6 EBC) Sugar 8 3.1 %
29.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 18.3 IBUs
12.00 g Motueka [7.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 60.0 Hop 10 4.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 11 -
2.00 Items Vanilla Bean (Secondary 7.0 days) Spice 12 -

Mash Schedule: BIAB, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 4660.00 g
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Saccharification Add 31.46 l of water at 71.9 C 69 C 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 78 C over 7 min 78 C 10 min


Any thoughts on this? If not I'll put it in my schedule list and hopefully bang it out in the near future. I've never added molasses or golden syrup to a beer before so wasn't sure how they would turn out. I also though cacao nibs might be nice but maybe that's for the second trial?

Cheers

 

[Blind Dog]

That's a lot of golden syrup and as it's pretty much all fermentable, probably too much for a malt forward beer. My memories of their beers is pretty hazy (15+ years) but I'd be starting from a base with 85% to 90% quality pale ale malt like Maris Otter then the rest a couple of crystals (say caraaroma and medium) to a max of 10% in total, 2% to 3% chocolate malt. Might then think about golden syrup / molasses but probably wouldn't 1st up.

Hops look about right. can't comment on the vanilla beans as I've never used them

 

[sluggerdog]

That's a lot of golden syrup and as it's pretty much all fermentable, probably too much for a malt forward beer. My memories of their beers is pretty hazy (15+ years) but I'd be starting from a base with 85% to 90% quality pale ale malt like Maris Otter then the rest a couple of crystals (say caraaroma and medium) to a max of 10% in total, 2% to 3% chocolate malt. Might then think about golden syrup / molasses but probably wouldn't 1st up.

Hops look about right. can't comment on the vanilla beans as I've never used them

Thanks for the reply. I thought the same, heaps of golden syrup but that's the recipe they directed me too. Maybe I'll knock it back and the molasses both by half...

 

[sluggerdog]

Been rethinking this and I really don't like the idea of the syrups in the brew so instead I've thought about using a combo of cacao nibs and vanilla pods for a while to get those choc / vanilla flavours instead.

Probably won't be a clone any more but it should have a similar taste... I'd hope.

One thought, would the crystal / malt structure have enough sweetness to work with the choc / vanilla flavours? Also keeping the IBU's low I think will help round things off but wasn't sure if I should increase the crystal some more... maybe?

Thanks

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 29.06 l
Post Boil Volume: 24.11 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 20.00 l
Bottling Volume: 18.60 l
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 32.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.9 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.50 Items Campden Tablet (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 1 -
3769.83 g Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 2 83.0 %
363.36 g Crystal Malt - 60L (Thomas Fawcett) (118 Grain 3 8.0 %
181.68 g Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 4 4.0 %
136.26 g Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 5 3.0 %
90.84 g Acid Malt (5.9 EBC) Grain 6 2.0 %
30.00 g Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 19.4 IBUs
12.00 g Motueka [7.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 60.0 Hop 8 5.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 9 -
150.00 g Cacao Nibs (Secondary 7.0 days) Spice 10 -
2.00 Items Vanilla Bean (Secondary 7.0 days) Spice 11 -
Mash Schedule: BIAB, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 4541.97 g
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Saccharification Add 31.83 l of water at 72.2 C 68.9 C 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 75.6 C over 7 min 75.6 C 10 min

 

[thylacine]

I have had a few mates go over to canada in the last few years to do the whole 'work at a ski tour' thing. Both of them went at different times and both have raved about this beer. I cannot seem to find anywhere that might sell it in AUS.

Has anyone tried it and if so what are your thoughts?

If it isn't possible to get in AUS I was wondering if someone knew of something available that could be similar? From the below description it sounds pretty unique with the late additions. It's not a session beer, just something to have one or two on a special occasion.

SPECS FROM THE VERY RELIABLE WIKIPEDIA

Lions Winter Ale - Crystal, Vienna & Munich malts come together to give Lions Winter Ale the body and richness of a robust ale, with a sweet caramel flavour. Specialty hops such as Wilamette, Czech and German Spalt, infuse the aroma. Bavarian Purity Law standards are observed until the filtration stage, at which point real caramel, vanilla and chocolate are added to give this beer a smooth vanilla like finish.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Island_Brewing

Just returned from a month in Vancouver & Victoria. Granville Island products have been surpassed. e.g. Parallel 49, 33 Acres, Brassneck, Driftwood, Hoyne etc. Numerous 'Taphouses' now offer the best of the best. i.e. "Tap & Barrel", "Biercraft", "St Augustines"

And prices cheap as....

 

[Lowlyf]

Dude I went to Granville Island brewery in January this year. Bloody amazing beers. They didn't have the Lions Winter Ale but they had one called 'winter Ale'. Probably the best beer I have ever put in my mouth