Rude Elf's Reserve | Allentown Brew Works
Brewed by:
Allentown Brew Works
Pennsylvania, United States
thebrewworks.com
Style: Herbed / Spiced Beer
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.50%
Availability: Winter
Notes / Commercial Description:
No notes at this time.
Added by ClockworkOrange on 02-08-2009
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 199 | Reviews: 47
Reviews by Gmann:
3.67/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a muddy brown color with some honey highlights. The khaki head is rather small and settles into a solid ring.
The aroma is quite spicy. Big notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. There also may be some peppermint in there as well. Some clove and a light fruitiness tie it into the belgian style.
The taste is just as spicy as the aroma. While the strength may be nice in the aroma, I can see it getting cloying in the flavor. Candied cherries brings a fruitiness to the brew as well as some honey notes. Waves of clove bring in the authentic belgian yeast flavors. Then there is the spice. Strong cinnamon and peppermint flavors, as well as some nutmeg. Definitely a holiday brew. The flavors do work to a certain level but again the spiciness may become cloying and there is a bit of an alcohol presence in the end.
The feel is light with fizzy carbonation. Sweet on the palate but the spices bring in some balance. It actually finishes a bit dry which is surprising and definitely helps the drinkability.
Not a bad beer, really. It does work to a certain degree but it is quite spicy. I am not disappointed.
1,110 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a muddy brown color with some honey highlights. The khaki head is rather small and settles into a solid ring.
The aroma is quite spicy. Big notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. There also may be some peppermint in there as well. Some clove and a light fruitiness tie it into the belgian style.
The taste is just as spicy as the aroma. While the strength may be nice in the aroma, I can see it getting cloying in the flavor. Candied cherries brings a fruitiness to the brew as well as some honey notes. Waves of clove bring in the authentic belgian yeast flavors. Then there is the spice. Strong cinnamon and peppermint flavors, as well as some nutmeg. Definitely a holiday brew. The flavors do work to a certain level but again the spiciness may become cloying and there is a bit of an alcohol presence in the end.
The feel is light with fizzy carbonation. Sweet on the palate but the spices bring in some balance. It actually finishes a bit dry which is surprising and definitely helps the drinkability.
Not a bad beer, really. It does work to a certain degree but it is quite spicy. I am not disappointed.
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More User Reviews:
3.59/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Copper colored with a fair amount of sediment suspended within. There's a fingernail of beige around the rim and covering two thirds of the top. I smell cinnamon, ginger, and light bready malt. I'm tasting ginger, cinnamon, and light bready malt. The spicing is pretty intense and is almost overwhelming. The mouth is aggressively spiced and a bit thick and chewy.
369 characters
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Copper colored with a fair amount of sediment suspended within. There's a fingernail of beige around the rim and covering two thirds of the top. I smell cinnamon, ginger, and light bready malt. I'm tasting ginger, cinnamon, and light bready malt. The spicing is pretty intense and is almost overwhelming. The mouth is aggressively spiced and a bit thick and chewy.
369 characters
3.83/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
1.83/5 rDev -50.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Man, I saw this at the only place in Pittsburgh to carry it, and couldnt wait to try. What a disappointment! Way too much funk going on here! It's flat and tastes like a bad apple cider with tons of cinnamon and nutmeg. Yuk! Its extremely boozy and doesnt go down easy, tart & sour! it smells like a caramel apple, but in true honesty, it tastes like a bad version of the brewers best belgian dubbel home brew kit with little to no carbonation and lots of spices dumped in. Not a fan! Reading the other reviews, this could have been a bad bottle! confused --- the cork would not twist out and I had to get it out with a wine cork opener.
637 characters
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Man, I saw this at the only place in Pittsburgh to carry it, and couldnt wait to try. What a disappointment! Way too much funk going on here! It's flat and tastes like a bad apple cider with tons of cinnamon and nutmeg. Yuk! Its extremely boozy and doesnt go down easy, tart & sour! it smells like a caramel apple, but in true honesty, it tastes like a bad version of the brewers best belgian dubbel home brew kit with little to no carbonation and lots of spices dumped in. Not a fan! Reading the other reviews, this could have been a bad bottle! confused --- the cork would not twist out and I had to get it out with a wine cork opener.
637 characters
3.72/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This beer pours a copper red.
Aroma: The usual winter spices and cherrys.
Taste: Starts off smooth with a toffe-like breadness and then the warmth and the spices come in with a bit of spice and cherries at the end.
Overall: I like that this is easy to drink for a 10.5% beer, and it had some nice spice to it. That being said, it lacked the complexity and b*&lls that a beer of this style should have. Worth a try if someone has them in their basement, but I would not pay for this again. Either way, Cheers!!
512 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This beer pours a copper red.
Aroma: The usual winter spices and cherrys.
Taste: Starts off smooth with a toffe-like breadness and then the warmth and the spices come in with a bit of spice and cherries at the end.
Overall: I like that this is easy to drink for a 10.5% beer, and it had some nice spice to it. That being said, it lacked the complexity and b*&lls that a beer of this style should have. Worth a try if someone has them in their basement, but I would not pay for this again. Either way, Cheers!!
512 characters
3.78/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Poured with a flourish leaving a a nice light tan head of very fine bubbles that settled into a tight collar, Spicy nose with cinnamon/nutmeg being most prominent then yeasty fruitiness. The mouthfeel is not as I expected...kinda on the light side. The taste however was very nice...hoppy bitterness up front then the spices followed by a nice alocohol warmth. Goes down easy...I like this one, it's no Mad Elf but warrants seeking out. I'll buy again.
452 characters
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Poured with a flourish leaving a a nice light tan head of very fine bubbles that settled into a tight collar, Spicy nose with cinnamon/nutmeg being most prominent then yeasty fruitiness. The mouthfeel is not as I expected...kinda on the light side. The taste however was very nice...hoppy bitterness up front then the spices followed by a nice alocohol warmth. Goes down easy...I like this one, it's no Mad Elf but warrants seeking out. I'll buy again.
452 characters
3.99/5 rDev +8.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Thought this was a Belgian ale, so I poured it into a tulip. The appearance was a hazy burnt orange to bronzed copper color. Slim quarter finger of white foamy head graced gently on the glass. The smell had a sweet brown sugar to delicate spice - ginger, cinnamon and clove. The taste started off mainly sweet and bled into the spices nicely. Light spicy sweet aftertaste led to a sticky sweet finish. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a fairly decent sipping quality about it. Alcohol not felt. Overall, for what it is now, I like it as a Belgian ale or a Christmas spiced ale. It works.
614 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Thought this was a Belgian ale, so I poured it into a tulip. The appearance was a hazy burnt orange to bronzed copper color. Slim quarter finger of white foamy head graced gently on the glass. The smell had a sweet brown sugar to delicate spice - ginger, cinnamon and clove. The taste started off mainly sweet and bled into the spices nicely. Light spicy sweet aftertaste led to a sticky sweet finish. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a fairly decent sipping quality about it. Alcohol not felt. Overall, for what it is now, I like it as a Belgian ale or a Christmas spiced ale. It works.
614 characters
Rude Elf's Reserve from Allentown Brew Works
Beer rating:
3.69 out of
5 with
199 ratings
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