Apex Tiramisu
Wicklow Wolf Brewing Co.

look: two finger tan coloured head with great retention, beer is a gorgeous jet black colour, no light bleeding through.

smell: smells great, like a fresh bag of coffee beans, lots of espresso, cappuccino, milk chocolate, big roasted malt flavour, really smokey, toasty, a hint of dark fruit flavour, light to moderate sweetness, most inviting.

taste: so much coffee, like a cold brew coffee, coffee flavours are really nice, they’re really earthy and smokey, big roasted malt flavour, nice bit of milk chocolate also some bitter dark chocolate, a hint of sweet dark fruit flavour, some fig, prune, big bitterness on the finish, real nice.

feel: medium bodied, lightly carbonated, lacking a bit in body, creamy, hides its strength quite well, tonne of lingering bitterness on the finish.

overall: definitely better than its s’mores brother, quite a nice stout, so much coffee flavour, but not monotonously so, good stuff wicklow wolf

So, apparently it is a one-off batch, still available at a few places (as of October, 2020), regarding to their (slow) website.

Hard to even describe the style. Pastry stout? Milk stout? Oatmeal stout? Imperial stout? Because these are all (partly, at least) true. And it has wheat too, just to max out the confusion.

Ingredients: water, barley, wheat, oats, Java Republic - 100% Nicaraguan coffee, The Proper Chocolate - Tanzanian cocoa nibs, hops, yeast.

Anyway, here it goes:

Top: forms a 2.5” massive tan, creamy head, slow retention into patches of lacing. Impressive.

Colour: jet black, Coca Cola like hue on the edges, holding against a strong light source. As it should.

Smell: ahh, this is mad. Raw cocoa powder, dark chocolate, espresso coffee, some sweet roasted malts. Even cream. Absolutely delightful.

Taste: Tiramisu!!! I mean the lactose and the oats make it incredibly smooth, the coffee and chocolate aromas are coming trough straight away, while you still know, it is a stout. 8% ABV, and it doesn’t feel too strong/boozy, but it’s nowhere close to be weak. They’ve hit the sweet spot, bang on. I had it at nearly room temperature, crazy details.

I swear, I caught myself CHEWING all the sips.

Medium to full body, carbonation is on the lower side, fits the character.

Summary: I rarely rate anything above 4, but above 4.5 must be something that sweeps me off my feet, or knocks me down like a freight train would. This is one of these rare occasions, my advice: buy it, if you see it anywhere, and buy it all! The 440 ml can retails at 4.90€, but worth every cent. I’m genuinely sad to see it was a one-off brew, hence this is in its name “endangered species No. 13”. This should be sold during the winter season, at least. Every year.

A truly amazing (dessert) beer, one is perfectly enough for an evening. I go back to Bradley’s to buy all they have.