On the fourth day of Christmas...

Otter Creek Brewing Company (Middlebury, Vt.) brought to me: a 12 oz. bottle of Otter Creek Winter Ale Raspberry Brown, a 5.8% abv. American Brown Ale.

This the fourth day of my excursion through the world of holiday and seasonal brews brought indecision: Which beer should I try next? I picked up 12 singles on a weekend visit to the D.C. area last weekend (shh... no one tell the PLCB!) and with nine shiny bottle caps staring up at me from their cardboard cradles, I was having a hell of a time making up my mind on which to taste tonight. Fortunately, I have a roommate, so I entrusted the decision making to him. After a blind draw he pulled out the Otter Creek, a beer that I haven't tasted and admittedly was a little skeptical about. Come on, raspberry brown?

Pours a reddish brown with a thin layer of tan head, minimal lacing. At first, the nose wasn't revealing much -- maybe a bit of roasted malts typical of the style -- then after peaking my nose into the glass a few more times I got a vague scent of raspberries. A fairly pleasant scent, actually, one reminiscent of the tang of a freshly picked pint (of berries, that is). I get lots of roasted malt up front with a little caramel, followed by an interlude of raspberry sweetness/tartness -- slightly akin to cherry Coke. Pretty one-note stuff. The finish is slightly off-putting, a melange of almost acrid bitterness and artificial fruit flavoring. Mouthfeel is solid, smooth, about what you'd expect.

I guess I went into this not expecting much, and ended up not getting much in return. Not bad, not good. Probably wouldn't recommend it, but it is better than some other fruity beer offerings I've had lately. (I'm looking at you Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic.)