Bad Wolf Dark Ale
Counterbalance Brewing Company

 

 

 

I had this beer on-tap in a pint glass at the brewery. They don't put an actual style on it there in the brewery; this beer reminds me way more of like an "imperial dark mild" than a porter, but that's just my take on it.

Appearance: dark brown hue with a touch of haze and a finger of tan foam. Nice.

Smell: smooth and caramelly; slightly toasty and chocolatey. Very good.

Taste: lightly roasty and toasty with just the right amount of caramel flavor. Little bit of earthy hop flavor with a dash of bitterness. Quite good.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good carbonation and a big creaminess. Very good indeed!

Overall: this is a damn good beer. Style-defying yet delicious. Absolutely worth trying. Drinks way easier than its ABV.

This one is pretty good, but nothing special. It pours dark with a nice foamy tan head and has decent retention and lacing throughout the drink. The nose is pretty non-descript and the flavor doesn't pack up punch. There is bitterness on the back end, but very little of the chocolate maltiness that I expect from a porter.

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Poured from a growler. Pours a very dark mahogany brown with a thin patchy light brown head that stays persistent, with wispy lacing. Aroma is dark, lightly toasted malt, chocolate, nuts, hint of vanilla. Flavor is dark, toasted malt with light char, espresso, dark bakers chocolate, light nuttiness. Finishes with a pleasant grassy hop bitterness. Medium bodied with a light grassiness. A very nice, lightly roasty dark ale, somewhere between a hoppy brown ale and an American style old ale, with the rich malt of the latter. This does not taste or look like a porter, which is the style listed here. The color is very dark, but translucent like a brown ale. A very nicely made brown/old ale with a flavorful malt body with good balanced flavors of coffee, chocolate and a good kick from the hops, which blend well with the light char. I liked this a lot and look forward to other offerings from this new brewery.

 

A — Pours a dark brown color, with a little bit of a reddish hue around the edges. Mocha colored head is tall initially, but fades, and leaves behind a little bit of lace.

S — Smells of roasted malts, but it is also oddly hoppy. Little bit of earthiness and sweetness as well.

T — Little bit of rich malts, roasted coffee and chocolates. Then a lot of hoppiness comes across, which is a bit off.

M  — Light in body for a porter, maybe a bit over carbonated, not bad, just unexpected.

O — Nice overall, comes across as a hoppy porter though.