Try?
Well, here we go again. It wasn’t enough that
Santa’s Butt got
banned from Maine. Connecticut, too, had to get in on the act and decided to
keep one Seriously Bad Elf out of their corner of New England as well. Oh,
it wasn’t anything the elf did, mind you. It was that bad old Santa again
that got this beer blacklisted. You see, Santa was on the label (even if you
had to pull out a magnifying glass to see him there), and Connecticut feared
that might influence children to buy the stuff.
At any rate, the crisis was resolved, and once again the Seriously Bad Elf can be seen throughout the good old USA, at least in states that allow sales of beer stronger than 6% by volume. Which is most of them, actually, although the Alabama legislature recently failed to get with the program and throw out its antiquated law that still restricts beer sold there to be less than 6%.
Here in Georgia, a similar law was relegated to the ash heap of history a few years ago, so we’re happy to report Seriously Bad Elves running amok all over the place at a hefty 9% alcohol content. At least at Christmas time, anyway.
According to the brewer, this is a rather serious English Double Ale. It’s also supposed to be an English take on a Belgian tripel (which may or may not imply that two Englishman can accomplish what it takes three Belgians to do.) Anyway, with the Belgian tripel allusion in mind, I decanted a portion of my bottle of Seriously Bad Elf into a wide mouthed, bowl-shaped Belgian beer glass.
It poured to a reddish gold color with a light, almost wispy cream head
formation and a decidedly buttery nose.I didn’t, of course, get any of the
musty, fruity aromas I was expecting from a tripel. Undaunted, I took a sip
and did get a similar malt profile, light and crisp, toasty and rich with an
underlying sweetness and a decidedly English buttery diacetyl flavor. In
reality, it’s the yeast strain that makes this English rather than Belgian,
at least in style. And if this were brewed with a classic Belgian strain, it
would probably make a good tripel.
And unlike Middle Ages Tripel Crown , which is on the same idea but didn’t really work for me, Seriously Bad Elf does. I really enjoy the toasty, light and sweet malt notes laced with butter that slowly segue into a warming, drying grassy hop finish.
This is, of course, a Christmas seasonal ale. Still, it drinks well in April, when I'm enjoying a bottle, and I expect it would do as well for a Christmas in July celebration as well, if properly stored. The high alcohol content should see to that.
Why not pick up a bottle at the supermarket today? And be sure to go through the elf checkout, of course.
At any rate, the crisis was resolved, and once again the Seriously Bad Elf can be seen throughout the good old USA, at least in states that allow sales of beer stronger than 6% by volume. Which is most of them, actually, although the Alabama legislature recently failed to get with the program and throw out its antiquated law that still restricts beer sold there to be less than 6%.
Here in Georgia, a similar law was relegated to the ash heap of history a few years ago, so we’re happy to report Seriously Bad Elves running amok all over the place at a hefty 9% alcohol content. At least at Christmas time, anyway.
According to the brewer, this is a rather serious English Double Ale. It’s also supposed to be an English take on a Belgian tripel (which may or may not imply that two Englishman can accomplish what it takes three Belgians to do.) Anyway, with the Belgian tripel allusion in mind, I decanted a portion of my bottle of Seriously Bad Elf into a wide mouthed, bowl-shaped Belgian beer glass.
It poured to a reddish gold color with a light, almost wispy cream head
formation and a decidedly buttery nose.I didn’t, of course, get any of the
musty, fruity aromas I was expecting from a tripel. Undaunted, I took a sip
and did get a similar malt profile, light and crisp, toasty and rich with an
underlying sweetness and a decidedly English buttery diacetyl flavor. In
reality, it’s the yeast strain that makes this English rather than Belgian,
at least in style. And if this were brewed with a classic Belgian strain, it
would probably make a good tripel. And unlike Middle Ages Tripel Crown , which is on the same idea but didn’t really work for me, Seriously Bad Elf does. I really enjoy the toasty, light and sweet malt notes laced with butter that slowly segue into a warming, drying grassy hop finish.
This is, of course, a Christmas seasonal ale. Still, it drinks well in April, when I'm enjoying a bottle, and I expect it would do as well for a Christmas in July celebration as well, if properly stored. The high alcohol content should see to that.
Why not pick up a bottle at the supermarket today? And be sure to go through the elf checkout, of course.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
