As the great Ned Stark so eloquently said long ago, “Winter is coming.” Well, not so much here in Louisiana as the rest of the United States, but the end of the year brings cooler weather to us which means winter beers are beginning to arrive on store shelves! Luckily for me I received a care package straight from Elysian Brewing out of Seattle, WA compliments of Natania Reed just in time for a little cold snap that’s coming through this week. Let’s take a look at the awesomely named Bifrost Winter Ale.
First, a brief lesson in Norse mythology-- the beer is named after the mythical rainbow bridge Bifrost that spans between Midgard (Earth) and Asgard, which is home to a couple of familiar Norse Gods made famous in the past few years thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor the God of Thunder, the trickster Loki his mischievous half-brother and their father Odin, the All-Father and King of Asgard. Now that I’ve educated you a bit let’s get to beer, shall we?
The Bifrost Winter ale comes in with an ABV of 8.30% with a big malt backbone. It pours a nice golden/orange color with very little head, but there’s some nice lacing after it quickly dissipates. What little aroma there is has hints of orange and some caramel from the malts. The taste is sweet, malty and filled with spiced apple and cherry flavors coming through with a bit of honey at the end. There’s a slight alcohol burn as well.
Winter ales aren’t normally something I gravitate toward, but I will say this offering from Elysian may just change that. The more I drank the more I enjoyed the fruitiness that became more apparent with each sip. Not to mention there’s nothing like a nice high ABV beer with a bit of a boozy bite on a cool winter evening.
The Elysian Bifrost Winter Ale may be on shelves here now, but if not it should be soon. Be on the lookout at your favorite grocery and bottle shops and add this to your winter drinking selections.
