I was recently on a trip for my job and one night I decided to pick up a 6 pack of a craft beer that would get me a little buzzed before I passed out alone in my motel room. I had one and only one requirement, I wanted a high ABV because I only wanted 2 or 3 beers. I walked into
the local beer distributor and saw the typical beers: shock top, blue moon, some random stouts that I never saw before (not a stout fan), natural ice, etc… I was getting disheartened so many beers and none that tickled my fancy for the evening. Then I saw, in all it’s glory, Troegs Mad Elf Ale. It had an ABV of 11%, check! My requirement was met and I was a happy dude. I was going off what the bottle stated and that was that the ale is brewed with honey and cherries and I immediately thought, could this be my cherry beer to replace Sam Adams Cherry Wheat?! As I’ve stated before I LOVE cherry flavor. I immediately purchased the beer, which was supposed to be $16 a six pack. The lady at checkout thought it was a mistake and gave it to me for 8$… WIN! In retrospect it is actually quite an expensive beer. I could not wait to get back to the hotel and try it.
According to
Tröegs Brewing Company, Troegs Mad Elf Ale 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 the pleasant character of this intriguing yet delicious Ale.”
I got back to the hotel grabbed a bottle of this delicious sounding beer, opened it, and took my first sip.
As I’ve said before I love cherries and cherry flavors. Shirley temples, Maraschino cherries, Grenadine juice, cherry candies, candied cherries, fresh cherries, cherry flavored ice cream, cherry pie, deep fried cherries, ETC!!! I don’t care! I eat or drink any form of cherries and in mass quantities! I love cherries damn it!!!
Upon first sip my impression was “this is alright”, “not bad”, “I can drink this”, “I can do this”! I didn’t particularly enjoy it but I thought it was drinkable because I knew there was a glorious 11% ABV at the end. Then I took my second swig and holy crap, I realized I did not particularly care for this beer… at all! The best and only way I can describe this beer is like this. Take grenadine syrup, maraschino cherries and juice, pine cones, Christmas scented potpourri, a dash of oregano throw it into a blender and blend the shit out of it, on high! When complete blendation is achieved strain the concoction to the finest degree and throw it into a jar. Then, after the jarring processes is complete purchase the first plane ticket to Norway, when you land walk to the first animal farm you could find and take a body shot of the mixture off a reindeer’s asshole.
The spiciness of the beer is what hits your taste buds immediately and strong. The cherry and honey is more mellow and subdued behind the spice flavors. The fact that it was a spicy Belgian beer didn’t seem so prominent on the bottle advertisement, this beer clearly leans heavily towards the spicy side rather than the honey cherry. The herbs and spices definitely overpower the cherries and honey, that is NOT of my liking. The more you drink, the harder it gets to drink, at least for me. I did however get through 3 of them, but that was mainly because I had set my goal at that. Again, because my taste for beer strays far away from the spicy herbal side I am not fond of Troegs Mad Elf Ale. If you prefer a spiced up brew with the hint of Christmas then you would enjoy this beer.