VIII: Anniversary Blend 100% Barrel Aged
Wolf's Ridge Brewing

 

Glad to finally have a chance to crack this one open, although wax caps are a pain in the rump to deal with. Anyway, this pours jet black with a very small, quickly fading top of khaki foam that fades into a ring. Deep, malty smell. I like that. It's like malts, coffee, barrel (bourbon), and vanilla. Taste is very deep and warming, malty with maybe a little tartness from the apple brandy and barleywine sweetness. This isn't infected like some of the bottles apparently were, thank god. It's clearly got the malty, chocolately, dark fruit goodness you expect from a big stout. It's pretty full, creamy, but smooth. Got some baking spices going on, I think.

Not my favorite from them, but it's complex and enjoyable regardless. Eminently drinkable.

 

750 ml wax capped bottle, packaged September 2021. Wolf's Ridge stated earlier this week that there are possibly some cross contamination infection issues with this beer, so I figured I'd drink it sooner than I was planning to and hoping it hasn't affected this bottle too much yet. Served in a Wolf's Ridge Dire Wolf glass, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head that stuck around a while. Decent amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like dark fruit, roasted malt, coffee, bourbon, brandy, vanilla, and dark bread. Taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also tart dark fruit (plum-like), oak and dark chocolate flavors noticeable. Unfortunately the tartness overpowers some of the other flavors after a while. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's a bit creamy and slick with a moderate amount of carbonation. It's a nice brew if you don't mind some tartness in your stouts, but I'm pretty sure this isn't what Wolf's Ridge intended with this one.

Hazy coffee black with a short tan head that quickly dies to a flat yet creamy ring.

Smell is all kinds of vanilla char and brownie decadence, but taste is cleaner and more drinkable.

While a little thinner on the palate than expected, due to a sort of wine barrel tannin and almost tartness, the brandy and armagnac counters with a little more warming power before bourbon and malt seem to add their moderate vanillins and cigar skins.