It might be winter but Eagle Bay in WA's South West has been a busy place during what is considered the tourism off-season.The local beer maker has been leading all the activity with a raft of tastes emanating from the venue almost in the shadows of the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse.And it continues this week with Eagle Bay Brewing releasing another super collaborative effort with some old mates."We love WA crew and a good winter get-together. So we thought we would get the gang back together for our annual winter barrel-aged brew for the third time around with the beer loving gang from Mane Liquor, artist Kyle Hughes-Odgers, West Oz whiskey team Whipper Snapper Distillery and ourselves," said Eagle Bay's marketing guru Margarita Wallace.Following Black and Tannin in 2015 and Forest for the Tree's in 2016 the teams have got together to produce Black Vanilla, an Imperial Stout aged in whiskey barrels.Eagle Bay's brainstrust have made a single batch brew of 2,000 litres. The Imperial Stout hasbeen maturing in two “Upshot” whiskey barrels from Whipper Snapper for three months and then toasted coconut and vanilla beans have been infused into the brew.It’s dark and roasty, combining sweet vanilla and toasty coconut with a subtle coffee intensity, it’s smooth and damn delicious. Crafted to be enjoyed with good friends now or stashed away for a little bit later downthe track.Black Vanilla hits the ABV scale at 9.5% and will be available in short supply of 640ml bottles.The mighty brew goes is available from the Eagle Bay Brewing store on Friday and then at Mane Liquor from Saturday.The previous collaborations between Mane Liquor and Eagle Bay have prompted some solid merchandise. These will be available on Saturday, too.

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