Elysian Bifröst Winter Ale

Not often (er, ever?) that you see Asgardian mythology tied hand-in-hand with the more typical Winter/X-Mas Ale shtick. But hey, since I've always been a fan of Marvel Comics' take on Thor, and I'm an unapologetic atheist, I'm certainly not opposed to a bizarre slant re: the Silly Season!

Does it make sense to have Winter Ales for sale, when it's not yet Winter? When you're in Bremerton in November, and the temp never gets above 45 degrees (before windchill), and the sun sets before 4:30pm? Sure, it's 'winter' enough!

I was at first a bit confused by this beer. Was it trying to be a big Golden Ale-type beer? Or maybe a Rogue-ish or Gritty-esqe "Holiday ESB"? Or did it have bigger and better things up it's sleeve?

A bit big in it's britches in the booze dept. This may clock in at around 7.5%ABV, but it comes across much higher than that as it warms. This beer has a lot going on -- it's the Sear Bliss of PacNW Winter beers. It's obtuse, not very approachable, and waffles between brilliant and "WTF?".

But to get down to brass tacks, this beer is a thumb's up for me because it has occasional shades of brilliance, and *is not* your typical "big ABV% and/or big Wassail spice" clusterfuck of the Nth order.
//TB