Rinkuškiai Missing Elf

Brewed by Rinkuškiai
Style: Doppelbock
Biržu raj., Lithuania

Serve in Dimpled mug, Stein, Stem glass

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500. Pours a hazy medium amber with very little motion of presence to the head. Big cabbage and artichoke funk a dunk on the nose. Creamy medium body with soft carb. Cabbage and artichokes again on the mid palate. A little basement in the finish. Drain pour.

Found this affordable half liter bottle on sale today at a favorite store and the label screamed out to me that this would be something up my alley. The 9.5% ABV and Santa Claus will sell it to most. I was expecting a double bock, as advertised, but ended up with what I think is Lithuanian malt liquor. The initial whiff was corn, grains, and booze. Pours average amber/yellow with a white head and some lacing. Aroma has lots of apple and some odd spices. Body is medium, not what I’d expect from a double bock. Finish is medium with a little hay. I had to wait a few minutes for it to warm up on me, The 2nd half of the bottle was much better than the first taste. Reminds me of the same brewery’s "Before and After"

Corn whiskey like aroma and flavor is dominated by.a strange muddled malt flavor which for less than three bucks for a big bottle and 9.5% alcohol is enough to warm the senses at least. Bit like rubbing alcohol. Lots of straw in flavor. Wondering what to do with the other cheapass bottle I bought.

500 ml. Clear burnt orange with a small , fleeting head. Nose is apple, caramel, grain and alcohol. Flavor is all the same, plus some dry grassy hops, corn and more alcohol. Near-medium body is smoothly carbonated and tingly with hops and alcohol. Pretty harsh.

This beer is surprisingly not terrible. I don’t know about you guys but when I see an Lithuanian lager at nearly ten precent alcohol for about two bucks, I think, "This is a beer designed to get old Lithuanian men drunk." Well, I’m probably right but this is not as bad as a lot of things in the same vein. It’s a rather pretty orange amber color w/ a foamy white head of even sized bubbles which leaves streaks and spots of lace behind. The nose is sweet, simple malts, some green apple fruitiness and a weird, spicy clove tinge. The nicest thing I can say about the flavor is it does not make me cringe. It’s only slightly sweet w/ a hint of medicinal hops as means of balance. The palate is not too heavy and the carbonation is a little on the fizzy side. There is only a slight alcoholic burn to indicate it’s excessive alcohol content. I didn’t say it was good. I said it was not terrible. Certainly, it lives up to its name. After half a glass of this stuff, I found myself dressed as an elf and terribly lost, not to mention fluent in Lithuanian.

Half Liter bottle. $2.50 @ Binny’s. Yes, this is what I’m drinking after taking care of Santa’s visit. You know the fly-by-night video labels that rush out rip-off versions of popular Disney animated features so they’re in the stores before the home video release? Movies like "Ratatoing" or "Little Cars?" It seems this label wants to rip off Ridgeway’s "Bad Elf" and "Santa’s Butt." And yet I bought it.
Okay, pours a nice orange yellow in my stem, with a thin bit of foam atop. Some heavy malt smell, but also the telltale fusel of cheap malt liquor. Not sure what this has that would qualify it as a doppelbock. Taste not anywhere in the bock category, but you know what? It’s almost usable as a cheap strong Eastern Bloc beer. Alcoholic with no hop to speak of, but it will help me get to bed so Santa can finally visit our house. And a merry Christmas to all…

Bottle: Golden clear, no head, light fizz. Sugar, berry and aspartame with creamed corn and light metal in the nose. Lightly balanced and warming, some sweetness in the finish and a husky grain note in the tail. Sharp.

bottle. clear orange with no bubbles and no head. sour, metallic nose. flavor is sweet with purple grapes and gum. a fine, sharp bubbles carbonation with a syrupy body.

Pours cloudy piss-yellow with white head. Aroma is nice-yeasty, malty bread dough. Palate is not so nice. Weird fake-honey flavor overlays what could have potentially been a good beer. Underneath the weirdness, there are some decent aromas of tangerine and banana. I don’t understand how this is a doppelbock, for starters. If it were a weizen, it would be a bad one, but at least it would make sense. Strange. There are only two good things about this beer. 1.) It was free to me. The label is so fun, I could’ve easily been tricked into paying 5 bucks for it, and I would’ve been pissed. 2.) If you drink enough, it’ll get you too fucked up to notice the flavor.

Some definite alcohol aroma. These beers are starting to look and smell the same. This is an okay beer, definitely not a doppelbock. More like another strong pale lager with a slighter darker color. The label is the best thing about this beer.