Dire Wolf - Finish Cabernet Barrel
Wolf's Ridge Brewing

8 ounce bottle, packaged 2022 printed on the label. Big thanks to Brutaltruth for this! Served in a Dire Wolf chalice, the beer pours dark brown/black with not quite an inch tan head. Head retention is good and there's a small amount of lacing. Aroma is nice, the brew smells like roasted malt, red wine, dark chocolate, vanilla and some dark berries. For the most part the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some oak, cherry and bourbon flavors noticeable too. All the flavors seem pretty well balanced with no one flavor dominating the others, although I do think the red wine/cabernet flavor stands out somewhat here. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit syrupy with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this one a lot, seems to have aged well! Definitely worth picking up if there's any bottles still around, think this was a one time release but I could be wrong.

Poured cold from 8-ounce bottle into a snifter and allowed to warm. Pitch black in color, with a wisp of tan head that settled in short order to a thin ring. Despite this being a big (10.8% ABV) beer, there are no rough edges here. Aromas and flavors of chocolate, molasses, and licorice atop dark roasted malt, with notes of dark berries and jam that give it a "winey" quality. Very sweet, not cloying, with a bit of warmth and a clean and slightly oaky finish. Overall, an incredible beer that balances its many elements very well.

 

Felt like opening this one today. This pours black with a very small head that fades right away, leaving a thin, bubbly ring. A solar eclipse in a glass. A very red wine aroma permeates the air with something else - some sort of alcohol more typical of barrels. Brandy? No, it's whiskey, I see. Resting and trying again - good whiff of chocolate up front. The taste is about what you would expect, given the description. It is quite jammy. The chocolate is there right underneath it, along with that toasted oak. This is very good. It's practically a fruit drink, but also chocolate-covered fruit. It's a rasberry-cherry sort of flavor, I think. Leaning more toward blueberry than strawberry. Heavy but smooth finish, good dessert sipper. A little dry like wine, but full and luxurious.

From the 8 oz bottle in a snifter. This awesome brew pours a murky blackish brown
with a modest head of tan foam that subsides to a thin ring. Nose of rich red wine / brandy,
bourbon, faint oak, dark berry notes, and subtle vanilla. Flavors---WOW! Vinous red wine,
bourbon, oak, faint vanilla, dark chocolate, dark fruits of blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry,
and dark cherry with hints of coffee. Excellent mouth feel; full slick body, smooth, rich, coating,
warming, faint carbonation, and a moderately dry finish.

Overall------WOW

Cheers

Dark black body poured from an eight ounce bottle. Little initial or sustained head. No lacing.

The aroma is a decadent mix of Cabernet, chocolate and whiskey. They aged the beer in 15 year old George Dickel barrels.

Taste follows nose but flavors are amplified. The cab stands out throughout; the whiskey briefly shows itself up front along with oak then fades until the finish. Chocolate and a bit of malty char appear mid-swallow.

Soft mouthfeel and low carbonation. Silky finish.