Ridgeway Brewing

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Beer Spotlight – Bad Elf Series by Ridgeway Brewing

Bad ElfWell, it’s the week of Christmas, so I thought I would highlight a couple of cool beers for the season.  Remember, you can drink these anytime you like, you don’t have to wait until now.   These beers I speak of are the “Bad Elf” series from Ridgeway Brewing.

Ridgeway Brewing was founded by Peter Scholey, master brewer from now defunct Brakspear  Brewery in south England.   Brakspear has been a very famous bitter since 1779.  Setting out on his own, Scholey founded Ridgeway, a short distance from Brakspear and began brewing.  Ridgeway is named for one of the oldest roads in England, built by Englands oldest inhabitants, the Druids.

Ridgeway produces quite a few Christmas themed beers — but the most well known among beer drinkers is the “Bad Elf” series.  The series starts with Bad Elf, and continues through Criminally Bad Elf.  Each beer is a little different in style, and stronger in ABV.

Without further ado, here is the list —

Bad Elf — English IPA, 6% ABV.  Light IPA, with earth tones.

Very Bad Elf — English Pale Ale, 7.5% ABV.  Sweet & malty.  Fresh taste, mild hop flavors.

Seriously Bad Elf — English Strong Ale, 9% ABV.  Malty & Fruity.  Alcohol gets more pronounced.

Criminally Bad Elf — English Barleywine, 10.5% ABV.   Caramel malts, alcohol.  Slight fruit tones.

Insanely Bad Elf — English Strong Ale, 11.2% ABV.   Alcohol tones, spices.  Complexity to aroma.

I see these beers year —round, but definitely this time of year. The Elf series are the beers of the week at Hop City, and also available at Tower, Greens, and Total Wine also.   The bottles are available in singles, but to buy the entire line, expect to spend close to 25 dollars.  Ridgeway also makes offerings such as – Reindeer’s Revolt, Pickled Santa, Reindeer Droppings, and Lump of Coal.

Quick Fact — The  Ridgeway road in south England predates the first road built by the Romans.  Romans adopted the idea, then paved them.