Ridgeway Criminally Bad Elf

Brewed by Hepworth
Style: Barley Wine
Horsham, England

Pours amber and looks reasonably good. Aroma, flavor and palate weak and empty. All I really taste is alcohol and that’s about it. Finishes reasonably clean and overall not complex at all. Not bad but nothing good either.

Pours a clear amber brown with a large frothy head. The aroma is lightly spicy from the alcohol, a bit of hop to back it up and a soft maltiness. The malt comes first in the flavor, a bit thin, but softly sweet. The alcohol adds a very slight head in the back and this has low bitterness.

10% ABV 50cL bottle @ $5.99 at Luekens. Seems a bit expensive. Light copper color with nice tan head. Sweet malty smell peppered with floral like noble hops, sweet refined sugar and alcohol. The first couple of tastes were a bit harsh until my taste buds had a chance to adjust. This beer has a moderately syrupy mouth feel. The alcohol flavor hits up front but doesn’t impede the flavor all that much. Then some light pale, caramel and sugary malt sweetness kicks in as does the pine and floral hoppy bitterness. This beer definetly gets better the more you drink. Tastes like a big brother to Samuel Smiths IPA.

Spiced apple aroma with a hint of alcohol. The pour was murky brown. Medium to thin palate supports a brew that has a definite hop presence and caramel malt to support it. Better than I was expecting.

The aroma has yeast, malt, brown sugar, and some fruit. The appearance is clear amber with a small head appropriate for the style. The flavor is high in alcohol and all the elements from the aroma but is not overpowering. The only surprise was the high amount of bitter hops that were not obvious in the aroma. The palate is crisp and smooth. The aftertaste is sweet and buttery. I would have liked this one more if the flavor had not been so astringent but otherwise it’s nice.

Bottle and served in standard pint glass: pours a clean amber hue with a small but mostly lasting off-white head which left some lace. The aroma displays the house character of these brews, very fruity yeast esters, caramel and toffee, aromatic hops, hint of mint, and some phenolic activity. The taste is rather straight forward with sweet caramel malt over ripened fruit with more than a bit noticeable alcohol upon the finish. The problem with this beer is that the body does not support the ABV and it needs more depth in general. Sure there is a herbal hoppy bitterness and even a wisp of spice but it comes off rather bland after half-a-pint. The aftertaste is rather astringent and dry. Drinkable but not very beergeek worthy.

Bottle. Poured a transluscent amber-red with an medium-sized, white head that mostly diminished. There was moderate to heavy malt aroma with light pine hops and some alcohol. A great smell especially compared to VB Elf and SB Elf. The flavor was initially moderately sweet and had a moderately bitter hop finish that was long lasting. There was a nice balance between malt and hop. The body was medium and lightly syrupy with fizzy carbonation and a lightly astringent finish. The body was a little thin compared to a lot of other barley wines I’ve tried. Not a great beer but the best of the Ridgeway Elf series that I’ve tried so far.

A bit watery for a barley wine. This and unimpressive. Neat bottle. They don’t conceal the alcohol well at all. Maybe if it was aged-many years.