Hey, Tröegs Brewery of Hershey, Pennsylvania. I’m a little peeved at you. Why is it you don’t distribute to Georgia? Atlanta is a big market after all, and we drink a lot of beer here. Why I alone could probably up your sales by 20% a year. OK, that last bit may be an exaggeration, but a lot of beer is sold in Georgia, a lot of craft beer, and you’re missing the party.

I’ve had several beers from Tröegs over the years, but I always have to hunt for them, because they weren’t sold in Rhode Island when I lived there, and they’re not sold here in Georgia now (as I said). North Carolina is as close as they come to me. I may just have to take ride to the brewery in Hershey, and you could certainly do worse. Pennsylvania Dutch country, Hershey Park, Stoudt’s Brewery, all in the same area. Lots of fun.

Anyway, I did manage to get my hands on a bottle of Tröegs Mad Elf Ale recently, a beer I’ve been wanting to try for some time. This is a formidable holiday ale sent to me by the very generous Scott White. Here’s what Tröegs says about the beer on their website:

The Mad Elf is a cheerful creation to warm your heart and enlighten your tongue. The combination of cherries, honey, and chocolate malts delivers gentle fruits and subtle spices. Fermented and aged with a unique yeast, this ruby red beer has significant warming strength that underlies its pleasant yet intriguing flavor. Enjoy during the holiday season.

Ingredients:

Malts: Pilsner, Munich, Chocolate

Hops: Saaz, Hallertau

Yeast: Spicy Belgian

JuJu: Pennsylvania Honey, Sweet and Sour Cherries

Tröegs Mad Elf Ale has an alcohol content of 11% by volume, so sip gently! The beer has just 15 IBUs but hop bitterness is not what this beer is about, my friends. It’s available beginning October until it’s gone, and mine was bottled on 9/23/2014. I think this is a beer that would easily age nicely for a year or two at least. The price tag on the bottle is $8.95, about average these days for a bomber.

Tröegs Mad Elf Ale pours to a beautifully attractive reddish amber color with a thick head of spritzy, short lived foam and a rich sweet nose of toasted almonds, ripe cherries and fresh honey. Taking a sip, the beer has a seductively smooth toasty maltiness up front followed by a big honey richness, dry almondy notes and then the cherry fruit, big luscious notes of sweet, ripe Bing cherries leading into a dry warm alcohol finish peppered with spicy yeast notes. .

My friends, this is a sipping beer to be sure and a wonderful one at that. It’s just busting with cherry flavor and dry toasty honey aroma, and I can imagine how nice it would be to sip a glass next to a blazing fore on a cold winter’s night. It shouldn’t be missed, and if Tröegs ever comes to Georgia, it wouldn’t be by me.

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