winter beeracle

okay, let me begin by saying that i am not a big fan of winter beers
feel free to write me off right now if you must
but i don't like them
you know why?
brewers have started to equate vanilla with winter
and i don't like vanilla in my beer
in my cookies and cakes sure, its wonderful
i can even handle it in a scented candle
but keep it the heck out of my damned beer!
i may be alone in this sentiment
i don't care!  i don't like vanilla in my beer

so why am i reviewing dead frog's winter beeracle?
frankly its because the good folks at dead frog sent me some to sample
yes, every once in a while it does pay off to be a lowly beer blogger
sometimes people send me their beers to try
in the hopes that i'll write a blog post about them
and convince people to buy their beers
so, thanks for the beer, and here's my review:

i didn't hate it

yup, sure, its quite vanilla-y
but there is some balance in there
there are nice rich malts and orange notes
and some hops!
the other folks who i shared my beer fortune with all really enjoyed it
i bet they'll even go buy some
(so already, mission accomplished!)

oh, and it has a great label!

i like the switch in name (from christmas beeracle)
i like a timmy and tony collaboration
(tony dewald and timmy brown)
i hope this is a sample of things to come from dead frog

i remember having the dead frog nut brown a hundred years ago
i was at chambar and having mussels
oh, the sheer joy of pairing a nutty beer with salty and fragrant mussel broth
it was a turning point for me with craft beer
then came brews like the mandarin orange and the chili lime and the chocolate mint
i'm really not a fan of those brews
it made me less eager to try other dead frog brews...
until the citra ipa last year and the fearless ipa this year
harbingers of things to come??? i hope so!
i'm looking forward to the relaunch of dead frog
and wonderful beers for years to come!

so whose winter ales do i like?
elysian's bifrost
hopworks' abominable
ummm... that can't be all, but those two are the only ones coming to mind right now...
you'll note the lack of vanilla in them both
and the appearance of a couple more hops
i am a pacific northwest hophead, it can't be helped
so bear that in mind when you read my beer reviews!