Day 17 of the 2nd Annual Advent-ure Calendar

Day 17: Tröegs Brewing Mad Elf

Tröegs’s(‘ss’sss’s’s) Mad Elf is one of those beers that’s always talked about around the holidays.  Besides the local Cleveland favorites, I’d say it’s one of the more popular Christmas beers.  I think it’s largely due to two factors: it’s a Belgian beer, so it’s different from most of the holiday beers out there; and it’s 11%, making it a rather strong beer even by winter beer standards.  Frankly, this beer knocks you on your holiday ass.  From their website: “The holidays at Tröegs start with our inner Mad Elf momentarily taking over the brew deck. So blame “him” for this cheerful ruby red creation reminiscent of ripened cherries, raw honey and cocoa with notes of cinnamon, clove and allspice.”

REFLECTIONS

Beard & Broad
Beard: This is about as rich as I can take my beer.  I can finish a whole bottle, but I probably wouldn’t be enjoying it by the end.  Or maybe I’d really be enjoying it a lot more? I dunno.  It’s very syrupy, but there’s a slight tartness from the cherries that’s nice.  It tastes like I want a nap, but also like I want to party.  Basically, I try and avoid this beer at all costs cause it usually leads to sloppy Christmas unpredicatability.  Goodnight and cheers.

Broad: Holy moly this beer is amazing. Beard has told me we’ve had this before but I feel like I would remember this delicious brew. It’s initial smell is cherry, honey and boozy but the taste is so smooth. The flavor is honey, cherry and the perfect amount of holiday spice. I love it’s dark red color. My one gripe is that it is a little bit too honey-ish for me (not a big honey fan). But I would drink this more often if it wasn’t 100% abv.

Adam & Alex
Adam: I have many hazy memories with mad elf thanks to the 11% boozy abv. I love the deep red color and the cherry smell. The flavor is warming cherries and honey. It’s one of my favorite “let’s not remember this night” holiday beers. I could drink this all the time if not for the hangover i would surely get.

Alex: This beer is delicious. This beer is also super strong. I can taste the cherries and honey, and it’s just delightful. I will cautiously be adding this one into my rotation of holiday beer purchases.

Scott & CT
Scott: So far, Mad Elf wins best smelling beer in my opinion. Honey, cherries, spices are all evident in the aroma. Then after taking a sip, it’s all still there but a bit more alcoholic than I’m used to. 11% ABV is no joke, and you’ll know it when you drink this. The half glass I had was just enough for me, but those with better tolerance may be able to handle this beer better. It’s good. It’s strong. It’s MAD. Sorry, cheesy.

CT: This by far is the best smelling beer we’ve tried. The honey is the strongest but the subtle hint of cherries hits you at the last second. I get a bit of both of those in the flavor but for me this was a bit too carbonated. It felt very alcoholic which makes sense considering it’s 11% ABV. I enjoyed it but man, this beer will get you drunkkkk. Which should not be considered a bad thing, in my humble opinion.

Lou & Jen
Lou: We’ve been slacking with this whole elf on a shelf thing, but we do have plenty of time to sip on some Mad Elf. This beer smells and tastes of delicious cherries. The high ABV creates an almost barley wine flavor, but the winter spice balances it well. I like this beer, very unique for a Christmas brew and it gave me a cozy beer buzz…

Jen: Mad Elf gets a 2.8/5 from me. It pours a pretty, dark cherry wood color. It is sweet and fruity on the nose. There was a very syrupy-like taste, maybe even cherry grenadine that seemed to emulate a bad Surely Temple. But, what kills this beer for me is the overpowering taste of that Belgian yeast, which always reminds me of the day I accidentally bought hominy instead of corn. It was a sad day.