Dire Wolf - Top Shelf
Wolf's Ridge Brewing

Pours dark brown/black with a finger's-worth of a mocha head. The smell up front is that of bourbon and chocolate. Very smooth taste, chocolatey with the barrelwork lingering underneath it. Quite warming - I can feel it going all the way down. To be fair, this is what the brewer advertises - this is a straight-up BA stout, no adjuncts needed. I get more of a toasted malt, bitter chocolate, stone fruit quality as the experience goes on.

It's always weird to come back to something like this after experiencing the world of pastry stouts. This one brings to mind images of satin gloves and velvet ropes, so I think they were successful.

Really good with a quality blend of barrels (I believe I am detecting Willet among them). Smooth and nice base stout with chocolate, hops, and a bit of malt.