Tag: Ridgeway Brewing

I posted back in November about the Beer of the Month Club. Mostly about how they find and curate beer for you. This day in age seems to prefer waiting in line for 4-packs. Anyway, I noticed that I did not even quickly review the beers. Just a dashed off line, to rectify that situation and to help you pick if you see them on shelves (probably if you are traveling), here are some short notes on the beers.

Ridgeway Imperial Barleywine 2015
Pours a light and bright orange. For two years+ old, it is not barrel-y tasting. A little vinous but very little. Some metallic notes. Restrained and very British though still carries a bit of a wallop.

Argus Golden Prairie Altbier
Pretty simple beer. A burst at the beginning which includes a large metallic taste. Grain husk notes in the back. Aftertaste lingers.

Red River Penalty Bock
Light but not thin. Pours a reddish orange color. Bubbly with a bit of toasted malt character. Almost a Coffee like bitterness. A little metallic.

Ridgeway Pickled Santa
A little fruitcake taste to this. Orange notes. Not super heavy. Bubbly with a bit of spice. This was my favorite of the group. It was a lighter beer as well but the spice and fruit elevated it above the rest.

Last month, I was e-mailed about the Beer of the Month Club. Now I haven’t been in a beer club for awhile. Being a non-whale hunter and having plenty of beers to choose from has left me fat and happy.

But I did jump at the chance to see what would be offered for someone who was just interested in trying the club. Not the fancy Rare Beers or the Michael Jackson beers, but the regular stuff. What would I get?

And I got four beers that I had never had or even heard about. That was a good start. An Altbier from Chicago, a hockey themed Bock and then two beers from Ridgeway in England which is better known as the brewery that puts out those Christmas beers that you see in Cost Plus with names like Lump of Coal or Rudolph’s Revenge. But these were different. One was another gimmicky named Holiday ale Pickled Santa but the other was a 2015 blonde barleywine. Nary an IPA to be seen.

To be honest, none of the four beers was off the charts spectacular. All were solid and despite the horribly hot Los Angeles Thanksgiving weather none of the beers were the worse for the hot wear.

And that is really the key with these clubs. They provide a curation service. You don’t have to think. You just get a box of 12 beers (3x 4 breweries) with descriptions of the four beers and breweries. If you want to expand your palate and taste beers from places you might not visit then this is for you. It is also great if you and a friend go in together and split them. Or if you have beer friends on your Christmas list. You can have the beers delivered to you and then parcel them out to the people on your list. Which gives you an excuse to drink with them.

Don’t get locked into thinking that you have to drink them all and like them all. When I opened the box, I took a minute to tell myself that it was an adventure to enjoy and in that measure, the Beer of the Month Club delivers.