Scratch Beer (Naked Elf) - Tröegs Brewing Company

thagr81us

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Big thanks goes out to kkipple for sharing this one during the One Year Anniversary of My Wreck Tasting! Served from bottle into a Crooked Stave ‘Crooked Line’ tulip. Poured yellow-orange with a minimal white head. Maintained nice lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, banana, clove, sugar, and fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, banana, spice, earth, and fruit. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a good brew. Unfortunately this one was not very complex at all. But what it lacked in complexity, it totally made up for it with balance. Everything in this brew really helped to take each of the other aspects to the next level. Glad I got the chance to try this one and suggest you do the same.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2012 11:56:31 | More by thagr81us

scottfrie

California

3.63/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 2 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle labeled 73 – Naked Elf. Thanks for the extra Stormking47.

A: Pours a deep ruddy brown with almost no head or lace.
S: Sweet smelling with tons and tons of spices. It’s like a holiday in a glass. Brown sugar, apple cider, nutmeg, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, prickly pear, banana and clove. Tons of fruits and spices with a little bit of caramel malts.
T: Follows the nose, sweet palate, with all the spices and fruits mentioned. Doughy yeast, caramel, and the holidays come through. Very complex and intense.
M: Full bodied, thick and slick mouthfeel, slightly syrupy, soft foamy carbonation. Drinks well, a little sweet though.
O: Same as I remember 46 being. Very delicious, fairly sweet, but highly drinkable and complex. Thanks again Josh.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2012 23:42:09 | More by scottfrie

CraftBeerTastic

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Ba Review #209
Served On: 08/15/2012
Glassware: Duvel Glass
Labeled ABV: -
Date/ Code: -

Found this at the Tröegs during a visit to the brewery in Hershey.

Look: Poured into the Duvel glass with a deep reddish copper color. Clarity level was surprisingly high. Continuous carbonation bubbles lifted off the laser etching on the bottom of the glass. Head was basically a ring of foam around the outside. Not much in the way of lacing.

Smell: Pungent Belgian funk with lots of hoarse blanket and heavy sweet malts with banana and clove. Not the biggest fan of Belgian style beers, but the nose on this was very enjoyable.

Taste: First off was a nice chewy pepper note. Then a spicy biscuit took over with some semisweet banana. The finish was a lingering pepper that gave way to more biscuit.

This was a nice iteration of the Mad Elf. I think losing the fruit allowed for more of the true Belgian qualities to come through on the palate. A very nice treat that I was lucky enough to run into while at the brewery.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2012 16:51:15 | More by CraftBeerTastic

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12oz standard scratch series bottle/label into a matching Troegs pint glass. The brew appears a burnt copper color with polished clarity. A finger of off-white froth sits atop and rapidly dissolves to a thin film across the top. Rising bubbles of carbonation maintain a thin halo around the perimeter of the glass.

The aroma is spiced with belgian phenols; clove, a bit of banana, mild fruit like banana and a hearty malt character thick with toffee/caramel is present. There is an earthy undertone of noble hops but it is faint in comparison to the rest of the aromatics.

The taste is filled with the belgian yeast character. Spice like clove hits initially with an herbal flavor of hops coming in right behind. A bit of dirty melon flavor is present through the middle coupled with a combination of toasty malt flavors that impart a taste of caramel/toffee inside the mouth. A bit of butter is noted in the aftertaste that lasts inside the mouth.

This is a medium bodied brew with a moderate to lighter level of carbonation. It is a decent take on a belgian ale and worth a try. The alcohol is fairly well hidden for 8.5%. However, in comparison to the last 2 releases of "naked elf" I dont think this one lives up to how much I enjoyed this the last time.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2012 01:21:34 | More by stakem

apintofknowledge

New Jersey

4.43/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Since I look forward to the release of Mad Elf each winter, I was intrigued to find this "stripped-down" Naked Elf without the cherries, chocolate malt and honey on my latest visit to the brewery. I understand it has been released a couple of times before, but a little different each time, and now for the first time at the new Hershey brewery.

I'm saving a couple of bottles to compare against Mad Elf this winter, but on its own it was a better beer than I expected, showing that it takes a solid backbone of a beer before adding the extras (cherries, etc.) to make a great brew.

It has a bit of a funky Belgian yeasty aroma, but appears a crystal clear amber-brandy hue in my glass with a thin white head. Flavors of sweet cereal grains, Fuji apples, and toffee come forward at first but as I sip more and the beer warms, more depth and complexity of contrasting flavors, like tart pear, sherry, and a subtle touch of what I can only call sour funk (but in a good way if that makes sense) come through with a mild warming alcohol burn and a slight drying quality that balances the initial sweetness and slightly syrupy mouthfeel.

My description just doesn't do justice to the delicious flavor and true enjoyability of this brew. Seek it out while it lasts since it is a very limited release.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2012 03:26:07 | More by apintofknowledge

thain709

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -9.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A - Served a little darker than I expected...a caramel colored body that shows some carbonation bubbles...a thick, fluffy, white head stands tall and slowly falls to a spotty cap...decent lacing

S - Belgian spices stand out with coriander, a hint of pepper, and a touch of cinnamon...there is actually a sweetness lingering that I was not expecting...light caramel and fruit (apples, pears, bananas) are providing that sweetness

T - Again, the spices cut through and stand above everything else...the saving factor of becoming too spicy is the yeast...it provides a balance while actually giving a different spice flavor throughout...the sweetness isn't there from the nose, but there are some dried fruit flavors peeking through

M - Medium bodied...some creaminess, nicely carbonated...lingering spice

O - There was some confusion about the release of this one...it was labeled with a Scratch label, but was identified as just Naked Elf...I like that they do this version and would like to see it in regular production...but I still prefer Mad Elf

Serving type: on-tap

09-18-2012 13:02:37 | More by thain709

orangesol

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on-tap at the brewery.

A - Pours slightly hazy copper orange with a one finger tall white head leaving spotty lacing down parts of the glass.

S - Smells of spicy belgian yeast, biscuity malt, apples, pears, and some light peppery spice. It smells just like Mad Elf, without the sweets and cherries added to it.

T - Starts off with a mix of chewy malt and spicy belgian yeast slowly giving way to a mix of apples, pears, candied sugar, and a touch of peppery spice. While it is quite chewy the light sweetness and fruity flavors help to ease its blow on the pallet. The finish is a mix of light spice and chewy malt.

M - Medium body with moderate carbonation. Spicy, chewy, feel with plenty of it lingering through the finish.

O - I have always liked this beer and this release is no different. I don't think this one is markably different than last years, however I think I preferred last years to this particular one.

Serving type: on-tap

08-29-2012 20:19:39 | More by orangesol

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -16.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I had this on at Troegs tasting room, enjoyed sample served chilled in a goblet.

The color is deep copper almost bronze with very good glarity and nice thick creamy band of beige with tight bead. only mild haze and accents of crimson appear at the base. The smell is decent with slight phenolic aroma with mild earthy yeast and light dried fruit scents with some spice notes from hops. the feel is decent with mostly dry and moderately high carbonation with subtle spice and moderately high alcohol influence on the palate.

The flavor is standard, I like the yeast taste but as it warms it shows more alcohol and the flavor of dried fruit stands out with a kind of prune-like flavor I am not fond of especially. There is a ripe banana undertone which is ok but the alcohol is a little high in the flavor for my liking as it is only 8.5%. I find this beer to be ok for what it is and not offensive but overall basically just above average -I am not a fan of the regular Mad Elf for some of the same reasons I don't find this appealing. I think I should have consumed this while it was cold since it did not improve as it warmed much.

Serving type: on-tap

08-20-2012 16:23:48 | More by Slatetank