Ridgeway is a brewery from England that surprisingly enough has more lines of beer for Christmas than they do year round. These are Bad Elf, Very Bad Elf, Seriously Bad Elf, Criminally Bad Elf, Insanely Bad Elf, Lump of Coal, Pickled Santa, Warm Welcome, and Santa's Butt. Each beer is different in style or alcohol content. Insanely Bad Elf is the strongest of the line, weighing in at 12% ABV. The rest of the beer lines come in 500 ml bottles, but the Insanely Bad Elf is only available in 330 ml bottles because of it's strength.
The beer pours a clear caramel color, with just a little bit of a reddish tint to it. It has a very light tan head that's one finger thick initially, but dissipates fairly quickly to leave only a trace of thin bubbles on the top. There was no lacing to speak of from this bit of head on the glass as I drank the beer.
The beer smells strongly of apple cider and alcohol at first, and it stays the dominant aroma throughout. It's a good warning of how strong the beer is actually going to be. The smell is fairly sweet, and I think I detected a bit of chocolate in there as well.
The taste is dominantly of alcohol at first, but I did taste some apple as well. It's sweet but it burns a little going down. It's kind of like a weak scotch, with no trace of bitterness at all. Surprisingly enough, it also reminded me a little of the Russian Imperial Stout I had from Rogue a while back. I think it was the high alcohol content, because that's the only connection I can see between the two.
The mouthfeel is pretty nice, it's got a good medium body with a moderate level of carbonation, just enough for a nice tingle. There's just a light coating in my mouth, but not in the same way that other beers have. Usually it would be a smooth coating, but this one had more of a dirty or grainy feel, almost like there's tiny particles of something in it. It's a bit on the dry side too. The strongest sensation though is definitely the burn from the alcohol. However it's a pleasant burn, a good warming sensation that's good on a winter's day.
The drinkability is decent, but it's definitely too strong to have many of this beer. I wouldn't want more than one in a single day. This is definitely a Christmas beer for someone who likes a strong drink, but I think I'll give it a pass in the future.
- Adam
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