Bad Elf Winter's Ale / Dry Hop
Ridgeway Brewing

Bad Elf Winter's Ale / Dry HopBad Elf Winter's Ale / Dry Hop
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From:
Ridgeway Brewing
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
English Strong Ale
Ranked #37
ABV:
6%
Score:
80
Ranked #26,167
Avg:
3.52 | pDev: 14.77%
Reviews:
265
Ratings:
469
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 01, 2024
Added:
Nov 26, 2003
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  29
A slightly stronger version of the 4.5% Bad Elf brew, with extra hops!

Sold as either Bad Elf Winter's Ale or Bad Elf Dry Hop.
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Photo of smcolw
Reviewed by smcolw from Massachusetts

3.97/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Smaller head and it leaves only a few minor spots initially (and nothing toward the end). The liquid is golden amber with a minor chill haze.

Very pleasant blend of lightly toasted malt and clean floral hop. Very British aroma.

The flavor begins with a dryish caramel tongue. This gives way (subtly) to an ever-increasing hop bitterness. The bitterness never dominates harshly but the swallow is mostly white pepper. The body is richer than most ales but there's a decent level of carbonation. Given the bitterness in the finish, the aftertaste is predictably longer than most strong ales. Overall, it's a departure from the Strong Ale style due to the higher hop and the lower alcohol (4.5% abv according to the bottle I have).
Jan 01, 2024
 
Rated: 3.5 by Jdells09 from New Jersey

Dec 24, 2023
 
Rated: 3.82 by cgrunin from Texas

May 02, 2023
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.39/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Shared bottle at local tasting, from Voldby Købmandsgaard. ABV is 6%. Deep golden colour, moderate white head. Malty aroma, hints of caramel. Decent hops in the flavour, not too sweet.
Jan 07, 2022
 
Rated: 3.04 by CisPiece88 from Nebraska

Dec 31, 2020
Photo of NYNorseman
Reviewed by NYNorseman from New York

3/5  rDev -14.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
I bought the holiday 4 pack and although it's not terrible, it is not special as a Christmas ale should be. I wanted to really like it, because the 4 pack box looks cool and the bottles have festive graphics but...it is simply okay. I could definitely drink this at a gathering with friends, but I wouldn't be talking about it the next day. This is the party guest that hangs out in a corner, not the one singing Christmas Karaoke with a leg lampshade on his head! I don't get the warming and winter spices that I need from a Christmas ale. This Bad Elf needs a timeout!
Dec 27, 2020
Photo of Darkmagus82
Reviewed by Darkmagus82 from Texas

3.69/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a hazed orange color with a one finger head of white foam. The head fades fast leaving a tiny bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the brew is mainly of a bready and light fruit smell of harvest fruits and white grapes. Along with these smells come a little bit of caramel and a bit of herbal and grassy aromas.
Taste – The taste begins with a cracker malt flavor mixed with s bit of breadiness and some sweetness of a white grape and citrus taste. As the taste advances the sweetness and the breadiness fade a bit all while some flavors of hop come to the tongue. The hop is mainly of a herbal and grassy nature mixed with a little bit of a must and hay, leaving one with a rather easy going and somewhat more crisp taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is medium in thickness and crispness with a carbonation level that is average. Overall the feel is pretty good and makes for a nice crisp drinker.
Overall – A decent pale ale with a decent hit of dankness at the end.
Dec 13, 2020
Photo of spectru
Reviewed by spectru from Florida

3.34/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.5
12/9/2020 Crystal clear deep amber with a not-big, but somewhat persistent white head; Not much aroma; Flavor is mild, not bad, but not remarkable; Carbonation is mild; Not a bad beer, but not one I would seek out. It's a bit on the bland side but it is good looking, and it deserves credit for the name and label. 4.5% ABV suggests a session ale.
Dec 10, 2020
 
Rated: 3.32 by wc94wc from California

Dec 06, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by Marvicsin from California

Nov 28, 2020
Photo of burnerfinger
Reviewed by burnerfinger from Texas

3.93/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
poured from the pint bottle:

1.5 fingers of bone white head: very heavy lacing (nice!)
off-=amber colored brew - more than a bit cloudy:

s: as much there as not. looks like they defintely PASSED on the dry hopping! I get nuthin at all to the nose: rated S at 2.5 (halfway from zero to 5)

T VERY NICE BITE! hard to call it hops though- but I do really like this.

M nice very full body and very full flavor.; in that way this is like meatloaf!

D "Swallow at Will"
Jan 18, 2020
Photo of scootny
Reviewed by scootny from New York

3.86/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
I'm thinking that the barely there head is a result of a colder temp. Those is a true English cellar temperature ale. Slight haze, lighter amber hue and spots of lace.

Noise is delightfully hoppy with a toasted malty base. A bit of yeasty dough with a touch of sugar.

Taste is solid and delicious. Light sweet malts are a broad platform for ,an atypical for English ales, hoppy assertiveness. Lots of pine and dryness. Clean finish had some hop oils lingering in a refreshing way. Not quite minty but close.

Feel is lightly bodied and carbonated. Like a gravity cask. Crisp, easy drinking, smooth and quenching.

More that the sum of its parts. Low abv makes this a PERFECT hoppy holiday season ale. I could drink many of these.
Jan 01, 2020
Photo of Bluecrow
Reviewed by Bluecrow from New York

3.62/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
-clear, pale amber bottle pour with a mere wisp of foam. The aroma and flavor are of woody hop notes and and mellow malt. The finish is crisp and dry. This is light and pleasant. (and the 4.5% abv version)
Dec 27, 2019
 
Rated: 3.39 by nmann08 from Virginia

Dec 24, 2019
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.55/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
there appear to be a couple of versions under this basic bad santa name, a series of holiday beers i havent spent much time with over the years, despite fun packaging and reasonable prices, maybe this is my year. this one is at only 4.5% abv, not the listed 6%, there maybe be two versions, please inform if you know. this one is golden from the bottle with a really lazy head that i have to pour high and hard to even get a few bubbles, nearly still after a minute, but nice clarity and shine, almost an apple juice color to it. i smell some english ale yeast, real old timey, and a big bunch of hops, way more intense there than anticipated, but still english to me. the malt is light too, and this appears to be a christmas beer in name only, no spices, no added sugars of any kind, nothing to make it festive, its just an okay english pale or ipa type to me. the flavor is good, with a lot more bitterness than i thought it might have, really pops in here, and even comes across as somewhat fresh, a lot less hop flavor, but a little herbal greenness to it, some grassy character, and a light floral wrinkle. the malt is basic, tastes a bit like honey, and has very little body. the english yeast a perhaps overwhelmed some by the hops, but its still classic to me. its flat in feel, very little carbonation here, like it never conditioned up in the bottle very well, and that kind of drags the apparent quality of this down for me, but its still light and drinkable if you dont mind all the hops. somewhat lackluster on the whole, and an odd fit at holiday time, ill hope that the other ones scratch my christmas beer itch a little better as i work through them. if there is a 6% abv version of this, i hope to source that as well and will update when i do...
Dec 23, 2019
 
Rated: 3.68 by craigbelly from Iowa

Dec 13, 2019
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

2.95/5  rDev -16.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.5
L- Quite deep amber with fine/thick 5mm white head.
S- Quite a bright richness.
T- Somewhat dry'ish on the front, rather a thin flavour and hoppy dry into the finish.
F- Carbonation in the mouth is low, lower than I'd like. It's quite hoppy/dry, not really the 'winter beer' suggested by the name.
O- Underwhelming, but then a 4.5%ABV 'winter ale' was always likely to face a challenge to prove itself.
500ml bottle from Wholefoods, London W8 £2.99 BBE (stamped on lable) 20/06/21.
Dec 13, 2019
Photo of tone77
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania

3.47/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle that looks identical to the one pictured, except mine says 4.5% abv. Dammit man! Has a copper color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is mild, malts and hops are present. Taste is balanced malts and hops, very mild bitterness. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an easy drinking beer.
Aug 12, 2019
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

3.48/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Decedent foamy smaller head, nice retention and lacing, clear golden pale color

Nose big hops, floral herbal, little earthly, no real malt

Taste very bitter, medium high bitterness, floral earthy herbal hops turning spicy, almost no malt, dry finish

Mouth is med to lighter bod, descent but lighter carb, little astringent

Overall meh, not enough malt to support, to bitter
Mar 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.23 by Jason_cs from Florida

Jan 23, 2019
Bad Elf Winter's Ale / Dry Hop from Ridgeway Brewing
Beer rating: 80 out of 100 with 469 ratings