Dire Wolf - Cosmic Brownie
Wolf's Ridge Brewing

From the 16 oz can in a snifter via Bluejacket74! Cheers Dude!
This solid imperial pours a deep blackish brown with a nice head of
light tan foam that settles to a thick ring and layer with excellent lacing.
Nose of dark roasted malts, dark cocoa, moderate char, light vanilla, and
subtle toffee. Flavors hit the spot with dark bakers chocolate fudge, char,
roast, coffee, light vanilla, toffee, and subtle dark fruit notes of blueberry.
Mouth feel is full, smooth, rich, coating, light carbonation, and a nice
bitter malt note that is welcome.

Overall, while not a pastry brew this is very well presented and well
rounded.

SOLID!

Cheers

16 ounce can, packaged NOV 27 2024 stamped on the bottom of the can, label says 10.8% ABV. Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both pretty good. The beer smells like cacao, milk chocolate, roasted malt and some anise. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but there's also some bittersweet chocolate, dark fruit and a bit of vanilla noticeable. Really don't pick up much if any birthday cake flavor here, and it really doesn't taste like a brownie to me either. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's coating and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. Even though it didn't taste much like a brownie or birthday cake I still thought this was a tasty stout in general. Just seemed more like a regular imperial stout with cacao which isn't a complaint. Worth a try if you come across some!

 

 

This was part of the brewery's 10th anniversary slate of releases. Not sure how limited it will be in the long run, given the number of Dire Wolf variants, but here it is. Pouring from a tall can into my trusty snifter, this looks practically void with little but a lingering ring around the rim. It smells deep and malty. There is a bit of chocolate and sweetness. The taste is fairly rich. Lots of chocolate, solid amount of sweetness. It's more bitter than one might expect. Strong on the baking chocolate, which surely differs from the iconic treat (not that I would know, haven't had one of those things in eons, but you know how American junk food is). The baking chocolate gives it a fudgy flavor. I'm not sure it would make me think of a cosmic brownie - a brownie, sure, or brownie batter, but not that. It probably doesn't have enough variety of flavor, and I don't think I would guess that there was birthday cake in this. Still, this is one I could enjoy repeatedly, and it hides its ABV well. It's quite full on the body but not thick,

Take 2, for the fun of it. A strong mocha head. Very fudgy, roasty, bitter with baking chocolate. I wouldn't say this is a birthday cake beer, but the preceding flavors wouldn't make that obvious. I think a brownie comparison is fair, so that might qualify. Dark fruit comes across more as you go, as well as a touch of vanilla. Yes, bordering on anise too. Definitely a thick-bodied dessert beer, creamy and with decent carbonation.

Seems like my initial rating wasn't amiss. Seems like that first paragraph got cut off at some point, though.