Beer of the Weekend #307: Seriously Bad Elf
After putting the finishing touches on their bathroom repaint last night, I ate a delicious dinner with Sweet Meat and Zaza. With our plates polished we enjoyed conversation and beverage: two bottles of red wine for them (color me impressed, though not surprised) and two bottles of Aventinus for myself. Needless to say I was tapped out when I returned home and did not feel like reviewing my next holiday/winter brew. I am making up for it right now with a late, brown bottle lunch.
The brew today is Seriously Bad Elf, brewed by Ridgeway Brewing of South Stoke, England.
Serving type: 500 ml bottle. There is a code printed on the label but no clear freshness date. Boo!
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is clean and clear honey. Two fingers of white head dissipated slowly to leave a billowy/spotted cap and foamy ring around the edge.
Smell: During the pour I could smell the alcohol, but when I put my nose to it the booze had faded. Pale malts, sweet caramel, toffee, honey, apple cider, green grapes, and musty basement.
Taste: The first sip offers sharp booziness, which serves as a fitting prelude for the rest of the pint. The alcohol is not completely overpowering — it fades after a bit — but it is very noticeable throughout. There are flavors of grapes, pale malts, apple cider, light caramel and toffee, honey, raisins, and lemon citrus.
Drinkability: It is okay. Not seriously good but not seriously bad. Seriously, though, I doubt I will ever buy it again.
Fun facts about SBE:
-Style: BA classifies it as “English Strong Ale” while the importer calls it “English Ale/Bitter, Tripel, Winter/Holiday Beer.” The label says, “A Rather Serious English Double Ale.”
-Price: $5.99/bottle at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. (Being “Seriously” bad means it is 50 cents more expensive than its Very and Bad brothers.)
-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF.
-Alcohol content: 9 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends curried cuisine, earthy cheeses (Camembert, Fontina), tangy cheeses (Brick, Edam, Feta), pork, grilled meat, and salmon.
-The sale of Seriously Bad Elf has been banned in Connecticut. Here are the details from the importer’s website:
-More brewer signed nerdiness on the label:
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
The brew today is Seriously Bad Elf, brewed by Ridgeway Brewing of South Stoke, England.
Serving type: 500 ml bottle. There is a code printed on the label but no clear freshness date. Boo!
Appearance: Straight pour into a pint glass. The color is clean and clear honey. Two fingers of white head dissipated slowly to leave a billowy/spotted cap and foamy ring around the edge.
Smell: During the pour I could smell the alcohol, but when I put my nose to it the booze had faded. Pale malts, sweet caramel, toffee, honey, apple cider, green grapes, and musty basement.
Taste: The first sip offers sharp booziness, which serves as a fitting prelude for the rest of the pint. The alcohol is not completely overpowering — it fades after a bit — but it is very noticeable throughout. There are flavors of grapes, pale malts, apple cider, light caramel and toffee, honey, raisins, and lemon citrus.
Drinkability: It is okay. Not seriously good but not seriously bad. Seriously, though, I doubt I will ever buy it again.
Fun facts about SBE:
-Style: BA classifies it as “English Strong Ale” while the importer calls it “English Ale/Bitter, Tripel, Winter/Holiday Beer.” The label says, “A Rather Serious English Double Ale.”
-Price: $5.99/bottle at John’s Grocery in Iowa City. (Being “Seriously” bad means it is 50 cents more expensive than its Very and Bad brothers.)
-Serving temperature: 50-55ºF.
-Alcohol content: 9 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: BA recommends curried cuisine, earthy cheeses (Camembert, Fontina), tangy cheeses (Brick, Edam, Feta), pork, grilled meat, and salmon.
-The sale of Seriously Bad Elf has been banned in Connecticut. Here are the details from the importer’s website:
Seriously Bad Elf has been banned in Connecticut! That little red speck you see in the background of the label? Why, that's none other than Kris Kringle, Santa Claus, who, according to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, cannot appear on a beer label. Sleep well, Connecticutians! Your government is working overtime to protect you. (By the way, you can buy Seriously Bad Elf in Massachusetts. And New York. And Rhode Island. But please do not carry the offending bottles across state lines.)
-More brewer signed nerdiness on the label:
“I suppose I should have seen it coming this time,” groaned old Claus. “Holiday ornaments mysteriously disappearing — turning up broken — reindeer falling from the sky inexplicably...and then of course, I discovered that tiny hands have been prying into that cask of wonderful new Double Ale I’ve got stashed down in the cellar. That’s when I called in a specialist from the Elf Department. He just confirmed what I already suspected. We’ve got a rather serious elf problem here at the Pole.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
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