Elysian Brewing Bifrost Winter Ale

"Winter Ale" is a very broad category and generally refers to a pale ale or blonde ale which is jazzed up with spices. Bifrost clocks in at 58 IBU's, pretty respectful for a pale ale, and maybe even an IPA. There's some citrus notes right up front, possibly orange zest, with some muted cinnamon and caramel as well. There's also some alcohol heat, like you might get from a Bareleywine or a Belgian Quadruppel, understandable at 8.3% ABV. Referring back to my characterization of winter warmers as a "broad category", Bifrost is well outside the norm for warmers: the color is a golden, rather than the usual brown, there's more citrus than spice, and a lot more hoppy than I would expect. Great tasting, but in my opinion incorrectly labelled.