Ridgeway Insanely Bad Elf

Bottle conditioned, Special;

Imperial Red Ale
"My goodness", muttered Claus, recalling his visit to the Institute, "the restrictive outerwear, the padded room-even padded Christmas tree ornaments. Horrifying! Yet the little chap seems happier than he’s ever been" Claus took a thoughtful sip of a most warming red ale. "Perhaps sanity is over-rated...Ho,Ho,Ho!"

3.1

416 reviews

North Heath, England

Community reviews

3.0 Initial aroma is of a fruit roll up. Dried cherry/strawberry. Flavor is very sweet with mild dark fruits. Sneaky booze.

3.6 330 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 9/21/2016. Pours fairly crystal clear medium orange/amber color with a small dense white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with some light streaming carbonation. Aromas of raisin, plum, peach, cherry, orange, melon, apricot, pear, apple, honey, light caramel, toasted rye bread, pepper, herbal, tea, floral, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity yeast, earthy hops, and moderate bready malt sweetness; with solid strength. Taste of big raisin, plum, peach, cherry, orange, melon, apricot, pear, apple, honey, light caramel, toasted rye bread, pepper, herbal, tea, floral, and yeast earthiness. Moderate herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of raisin, plum, peach, cherry, orange, melon, apricot, pear, apple, honey, toasted rye bread, pepper, herbal, tea, floral, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, earthy hops, and moderate bready malt sweetness; with a nice malt/bitterness balance; and light lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate dryness from bitterness, increasing through the glass. Light carbonation and medium-full body; with a smooth, creamy/bready/grainy/sticky, and lightly slick/syrupy balanced mouthfeel that is good. A little rough from the lingering bitterness. Alcohol is fairly well hidden; a small warming and a touch of booziness lingering after the finish. Overall this is a pretty nice English strong ale. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity yeast, earthy hops, and moderate bready malt sweetness; smooth and easy to sip on for the big ABV. A little rough and astringent going down, but otherwise had some nice balanced complexities; and was nicely enjoyable all around.

3.2 Bottle, 2015 vintage - pours slightly hazy orange with a short lived fizzy beige head. Aroma is malty with some plum and prune and notes of starw. Taste is strong alcohol, port and sherry with straw and prunes. Strong bitterness in the finish, a little astringent. Thick, syrupy mouthfeel with low carbonation.

3.0 2015 vintage, picked this up on sale at Friar Tuck, not expecting much, really an impulse buy. Smells like malt and tons of booze. Red tinged appearance with a white clingy head. It has the sweet characteristic of a barleywine without any of the hops. Perhaps it is the age of the bottle. Not terrible, ABV is well hidden. No way I could drink more than one of these.

2.0 (Bottle, 0.33 l - 2016 vintage, from Alko, 20170114) The beer poured deep golden and clear. Its head was medium sized and white. Aroma had glue, strawberries and green apples. Palate was medium bodied and warming with medium carbonation. Flavours were sweetness, glue, malts, green apples and bitterness. Aftertaste was boozy and bitter. An unpleasant boozy mess.

3.3 Bottle@home from Alko, Tampere, Finland. Strong, super boozy, sweet and a bit artificial flavor with raisin, sweet fruits and some malts. Simple though averagely balanced. Medium body with light/medium carbonation. Overall, clear but lo-fi product.

2.3 Clear, copper colour and some light tan lacing. Light aroma, pretty basic with mostly malt and some hops. The taste is, well, surprising. It has some bitterness and malts but mostly it’s really off putting and chemical, reminds me of glue or something. It’s pretty obvious from the taste that it has high abv. Body is medium, low medium carbonation, slick and a bit oily mouthfeel. Terrible.

3.4 Yellowish-orange with a white head. Aroma of malts, raisins, and alcohol. Taste is alcohol and raisins. Very strong, but not flavorful.

4.4 Dark sappy orange with golden highlights and a thin white head. Nose is immediately fruity—citruses like orange & grapefruit, bananas, apples, and pears. Brown sugar, caramel, cola, and certainly some booze comes through. Flavors arrive in an everything-upfront-and-all-at-once manner; it’s a mixture of fruity sweetness & fruity sourness that’s got a savory and peppery side as well. During the development, the syrupy sweetness comes out briefly before finishing with a strong citrus tart note and bold hop bitterness. All of the flavors recede once it warms, and alcohol dominates. Light body, low carbonation, with a mildly dry finish. You’ll definitely feel the warming of the alcohol as it goes down, too. Overall, very fruity at the beginning but gets slightly spicy and bitter after a few sips. Flavors make this beer a sort of Irish red, Flemish red, & Belgian Pale.

2.7 bottle @ Belmont Party Supply / Dayton OH --- BBF 13 09 23 --- Aroma of malt and dark dried fruit. Slightly hazy dark amber color, beige head that nearly disappears, dots and strips of lace. Taste is somewhat thin malt that moves through mild carbonation to light dried fruit and strong alcohol in a lingering finish. Awfully strong, and heavy in the belly. Not a keeper for me.

3.1 11.2 oz bottle from notes. Pours a clear copper color with a small off white head that collapses to a thin film. The aroma is sweet caramel malt with all of the 11.2%. The flavor has some sweetness up front mainly due to the caramel malt, but also because of some fruitiness,grainy malt and boozy alcohol. The finish is more on the alcohol and bitter side. Medium bodied, but not the easiest to drink as the finish is not pleasing. This did not meet my expectations

3.3 Mere humlet end en normal barleywine, med noter af kandis og citrus. En rigtig nydeøl her i julen.

3.0 Bottle from Alko claiming to be imperial red ale. Pours hazy orange with small white head. Sweet aroma of raisins, yeast, alcohol and bubblegum. Alcohol, some more bubblegum and a bit too sweet for my taste. Full body with thick texture and soft carbonation.

4.2 Aroma: alcohol, fruit, caramel, Appearance: clear golden with an off-white head Taste: medium sweetness, medium bitterness, cherries Palate: medium body, sticky, average carbonation, long finish, Tasty

3.7 It’s really not to bad. A sweet and mild backbone with a nice amount of alcohol. It’s masked pretty well. A little heat at the finish but it’s mostly sweet. To me, it deserves a higher rate for handling >11% pretty well.

3.6 Bottle at Mum and Dads, 26th December 15. Pours straw yellow. Aroma is catamel, hops, fruit booze. Taste is sweet and bitter, quite impressed by this one, kind of a Belgian strong

3.3 Bottle to tulip. Hazy red with a thin off white head. Aroma is molasses and lots of dark fruit. Flavor is brown sugar, apples, and more dark fruit. Average mouthfeel and sticky. Good beer.

3.4 12 oz 2015 edition. Clear amber, with a thin, off white, short lived head. Aroma is malty, caramel, toffee, floral hops. Flavor is sweet caramel, light brown sugar, spicy, grassy hops.

0.9 Terrible beer. Claims to be an imperial red, but there is nothing red about it. Listed as a barley wine, but it tastes more like a corked glass of wine. Huge disappointment.

2.0 12 Oz bottle poured. Oily orange pour with a soapy bubble head. Odd malt aroma. Flavor is a big alcohol up front, with a cool finish. No interesting or appealing flavor here. Bottle conditioned rubbing alcohol. Poured.

2.5 Bottle. Quite alright. The taste is very sweet and at the same time rather strong. Doesn’t look too good though.

1.5 Look; fawn top, clear amber body. Aroma; syrup, apple, artificial sweetness. Taste; bitter syrup, alco grains - finish whiskey in bread. Palate; sticky. Overall; glued. [33cl br btl abv11.2%, bb15.10.25, B@Alko] ....when do I learn, never barleywine....

2.8 Smell of nuts. Copper colour, minimal head. Flat carbon. Half bitter taste. Aroma of alcohol, oak.

3.7 Taste had big boozy barley malts with some hops. Golden in color, clear, with nice delicate lace. Medium to full body, big warm finish.

3.0 Aromas of caramel and alcohol, slight bread and sweet tea notes. Not really imperial red ale .. cause it’s not red. Golden with white head that persists for some time. Closer to imperial pale lager, has that assertive Heineken like crap hops, almost like old hops. Sweetness at the end. Body and bitterness helps to cover mediocre malts. Average at best.

4.1 I didn't take any extra notes when I tried this beer for the first time but I'm gonna try it again and update my comments.

2.9 Sweet and boozy! Hops are missing. $3.99/11.2 ounces at World Market makes it expensive IMO.

2.9 2015 Vintage. 33 cl, bottled. Pours clear amber with minimal/no head. Aroma: Fermented aroma, caramel, notes of pines. Alcohol. Taste: Quite sweet, some bitterness. Alcohol in flavour. Malt, bread. Syrupy. Tones of nuts. Palate: Near medium body, quite thin and sticky feel. Average carbonation. Metallic notes.

3.1 Bottle from Alko. Copper color, white head. Bittersweet taste with citrus, raisins, malts, resin, hops and alcohol. Bitter finish with citrus, malts, resin and alcohol. Ok brew, but the alcohol is too noticeable.

2.8 Tiny, white, fully diminishing head, virtually no density, virtually no lacing. Normal, medium amber body. Moderate malty aroma, with notes of cookie, molasses and caramel. Light hoppy aroma, with notes of perfume and orange. Light yeasty aroma, with notes of dough. Notes of banana, bubble gum, apple and pear. Moderate sweet, moderate bitter and light acidic initial flavor. Average, moderate sweet, moderate bitter and moderate acidic finish. Medium body. Oily texture. Soft carbonation. Heavy alcoholic, light astringent, metallic finish.