Beers of Clashing Seasons

Schlafly Biere de Garde
750 mL capped bottle
7.5 percent ABV
Schafly Brewing, St. Louis
Sampled: Dec. 20, 2009

I sampled this many times in the spring, but for some reason, it called to me from the beer cave (for the uninitiated, the beer cases I used for aging). The creamy yet thin head meshes well with surprising effervescence.

Spicy, but with a full steam of barley malt instead of the mixed malts which make Belgian versions so entrancing, Schlalfly nonetheless catches the essence of the style. It’s so wide open that anyone can dabble in Biere de Garde.

The Schlafly version leans on citrus, with a little red fruit as backbone. There’s a bit of caramel which comes in closer to the finish. The creaminess involves into an impediment; most Belgian brews, even those with ice-cream heads, dial back the foam after its initial explosion. Not all saisons grow creamy after a few months -those not intended to age often develop a B-vitamin, asparagus aftertaste - but this loses its luster from the burdensome creaminess.

Rating: 6/10

Insanely Bad Elf
Ridgeway Brewing
“Vintage 2007”
Sampled: Dec. 25, 2009

I bought this in the summer, while Connecticut in for Grandma’s funeral. No matter the grief, the beer geek in me could not ignore a chance for regional beers unavailable in.

This elf is a distant descendant of Very Bad Elf. Forget imperial red ale – at 11.2 percent, the nose is all red pepper, with slight effervescence and a head with no staying power. The little fellow depicted on the bottle in a straight-jacket says it all; compared with the mellow Very Bad Elf, this ale goes off the rails.

While this bottle has a 2007 Vintage label, it also comes with a “Drink By” date of Aug. 27, 2018. So this alcohol content could lie upward of what the label suggests. Apples and cherry cavort over a slight tartness reminiscent of strawberry. If it’s red fruit, there are traces in Insanely Bad Elf.

The pepper allows those other flavors to assert themselves before it resumes control. But it does not linger on the palette; rather, it fades smoothly, with a malty twist that fails to fit the alcohol content. Insanely Bad Elf has a graininess which goes far beyond normal finishes. Definitely worth a holiday tasting; if you missed your chance for this season, I expect you have a decade to get your shot.

Rating: 8.5/10